– Public Works, Local Govt ministries
Several weeks after Plaisance residents voiced concerns about a Vryheid’s Lust developer filling in a trench to establish a business, the matter is yet to be resolved.
Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn told Stabroek News on Monday that the issue stemmed from the Plaisance Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) giving the man permission to fill-in the trench after the Chairman had signed a ‘no objections’ letter. Benn said a ‘no objections’ letter had also been signed by the ministry in 2005, before his tenure as minister. However, that letter did not give the developer permission to fill-in the trench, rather it gave the go-ahead for him to build next to the government reserve.
The minister explained that the reserve fell under the purview of the ministry but the trench was distinctly the NDC’s responsibility. Benn said too the disputed area was not a trench but a pond and he understood that the developer had planned to dig a trench alongside his establishment to cater for drainage. He also said that the matter was currently being reviewed and that the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development would have a greater say in its resolution.
In an invited comment, Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall said he was sure that his ministry had not given the developer permission to block a major drainage trench. He said it was the policy framework of the NDC to monitor and protect reserves and trenches under its control. Lall also echoed Benn’s comment that the matter was being reviewed.
Since the issue was first highlighted in the August 1 edition of the Stabroek News, Region Four Regional Executive Officer Shafdar Ali had issued a cease-order on the filling of the trench, which is located on the northern side of the Railway Embankment obliquely opposite the NDC building in Plaisance. Ali had said that permission should never have been given to fill a major drainage trench and the NDC should not have allowed it to happen.
Region Four Chairman Clement Corlette had then said that Ali’s cease-order was done subjectively without consulting other officers of the region.
In response, Ali had told this newspaper that as the region’s Administrative Officer it was within his authority to stop work at any level that was adversely affecting residents. He also said that the order, issued through the Plaisance NDC, was temporary and that an investigation would have to be carried out to determine whether the developer had been given permission and by whom.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Plaisance NDC, Clinton Rollox, had been adamant that the developer had been given permission to build a wash bay from a “higher authority.” He said the NDC had been bypassed in the decision and that he had signed a ‘no objection’ letter because the man had already received permission to proceed. When this newspaper suggested to Rollox that it was puzzling that such a development occurred within the NDC’s jurisdiction; the chairman said that authorities senior to him had ignored protocol and had not involved residents in the decision.
When Stabroek News contacted the developer on the matter the man declined to comment. (Melissa Charles)