Residents of Fourth Field, South Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara are concerned about a plot of land with bush more than five feet high which they say poses a threat to their safety, particularly at nights.
They told Stabroek News that the piece of land has been in a bad state for over a decade and has been home to bees, wasps and bats. It has also provided a safe haven for petty thieves.
The residents are calling on the relevant authorities to intervene.
One resident said that when she moved into the area 13 years ago, the land was overgrown with bush. According to the woman, who gave her name as Paulette, on several occasions she and her son have gone over and cut down the high grass and even hired people to weed the area.
The woman said she believes the bush might now be harbouring snakes and rats. She said in December last year there was a robbery right next to the bushy property.
She believes, too, that the lack of streetlights coupled with the thick bush makes the area very dangerous for persons who have to enter the community late at night.
The woman has since constructed a high fence around her property to ensure security, but she believes that the effort might have been in vain. “I spend a lot of money to do it and like it doesn’t make sense because the grass is growing over it.”
Paulette said she visited the Ministry of Housing to seek the minister’s advice on the matter but he was not there at the time and no one was able to render any assistance.
Paulette told this newspaper that she had confronted the landowner’s brother, who lives in the area, to do something about the grass outside the property and he weeded it.
When Stabroek News visited the land last week, there was a small wooden shack at the front of the property. It was shut tight. This newspaper noticed that the tall grass was even growing in the drains surrounding the property.
A structure that appeared to be a pit latrine was overgrown with weeds. Bush was almost covering a shed to the back of the property and this newspaper saw a large bee hive under it. Several wasp nests were also visible in trees on the property.
Another resident, who lives near the jungle-like land, told this newspaper that the bush had grown half way onto the dam, which runs along the eastern side of the property. She said she has seen people engaging in sexual activity there.
The woman who did not want her name mentioned said the owner of the property stopped living in the shack for some years now but would go there on occasion with his female friends. According to her, the man would open the house and stay for several hours before leaving. She said the man doesn’t take kindly to people telling him about the state of his property.
The woman said last year when she was completing her final exams at the nearby Cyril Potter College of Education she was very afraid when it was time to go home.
“My classes use to finish late at night. One night while coming home from classes I was passing the bush when I hear a noise. When I look I saw two people making love in the bushes. I even use to put a brick in my bag so I can hit anyone who tries to snatch it.”
She said people in the area are afraid because the bush is the perfect hiding place for thieves.
She, like Paulette, said that the property has been bushy for years.
On December 8 last a young woman was robbed while walking in front of the bushy lot on her way home.
She told Stabroek News that it was around 23:20 hrs and rain was falling. She said that some cows were in front of her and she suddenly heard a noise behind her. When she looked around, the woman said, she saw a man. “I didn’t take it for nothing because I thought that he was going for the cows.”
She said the next thing she knew the man who was wearing no shirt choked her from behind and put an object to her head. She told this newspaper that although she told the man that she had nothing he snatched her bag.
Sometime later she found her bag in a trench.