Beginning Thursday of last week in some cases, when the heavy rain which fell over the weekend started, flood waters began to be seen in part of the fairly new, booming Grove/Diamond Housing Scheme.
Prior to it being ‘developed’ for housing some years ago, that area at Diamond had accommodated acres of sugar cane which fed the former Diamond sugar estate. The government, through the Ministry of Housing subsequently began selling/allocating house lots in the area; at first just at the front but the demand was obviously so great that the community has now extended way beyond its early boundary.
Almost simultaneously so did the existing contiguous village, Grove. House lots were sold/allocated at the back of Grove when the Diamond uptake peaked and the demand remained high. Last year the population of Diamond Housing Scheme was pegged at some 40,000. Since then, Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Alli had revealed a plan to develop some 200 more house lots in Grove/Diamond.
Today, Grove/Diamond has the makings of a town; a brand new gas station opened there recently; it has the modern state-of-the-art Diamond Secondary School; the Diamond East Bank Demerara Regional Hospital and a police station. The Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry had officially opened its Grove/Diamond branch in November 2008 and other commercial banks have been moving to open branches there. Several other businesses have taken root in the community as well as places of worship.
In May last year, at the opening of a $16 million masjid in the community, President Bharrat Jagdeo had said that government was contemplating township status for Grove/Diamond. At that time it was reported that government had spent more than $2 billion to develop the area, half of which was said to have been spent on providing basic infrastructure such as roads, drainage, culverts, bridges and a water supply system.
Shortly after that, in July last year to be precise, the Government Information Agency (GINA) announced that Minister Ali, Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall, and Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn had met stakeholders to discuss the investment of a further $500 million in the proposed town and a plan that would “change the landscape” of the area. This plan, according to GINA, included the establishment of a paved corridor for traffic safety and pedestrian crossing; a pedestrian walkway along the main highway; a bus shed; a tarmac facility for vending and parking of taxis; a multi-purpose tarmac for sporting activities, including basketball, volleyball and a grass track and a multi-purpose centre to serve the community’s educational needs. Areas had also earlier been earmarked for playfields that were to be developed by the Housing Ministry’s Central Housing and Planning Authority and then handed over to the Grove/Diamond Neighbourhood Democratic Council.
Amazingly, however, it appears that no one took cognizance of the fact that as the community grew increasing pressure would be placed on its infrastructure; its drainage, water supply and quite possibly electricity. It took last week’s inundation for the light bulb to come on. Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud has since announced that a “long-term drainage plan” for the community was “being discussed” as the community had outgrown the existing drainage facilities. Given that it is still in the discussion stage this plan could be pending another few years. It is also quite likely that since the area is already built up, establishing a drainage system could be tricky if not impossible. The people in the flooded area could well be dependent on pumps – after they would have been flooded out – forever.
No one needs spectacles to see that those who conceptualized the Grove/Diamond housing scheme missed an opportunity to build a model community by not seeing the bigger picture and taking all the possibilities for development into consideration. As long as the land was available for housing, the probability that it would be so used was high and proper infrastructure should have been put in – especially drainage, given what we all know about Guyana.
Unfortunately, it is also to be expected that the two other recently ‘developed’ large housing areas – Parfait Harmonie and Tuschen – could soon outgrow their existing drainage facilities, much like the city and every other area in the country. One can’t help but wonder where the next housing scheme is going to be built and whether those tasked with its development will get it right this time.
