Residents of the Parfait Harmonie Housing Scheme, on the West Bank of Demerara, want authorities to repair their deplorable roads and clear the weed-infested canals and drains that cause flooding whenever it rains
When Stabroek News visited the area and spoke to some of the residents, they complained that ever since they moved into the area, there has been no maintenance work of any sort by the relevant authorities. They complained about the drainage and irrigation system in the scheme and said that the resulting floods pose many health risks to them and their families.
But the Malgre Tout/Meer Zorgen Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) says that the housing scheme has not been handed over to it as yet and as a result it cannot do any maintenance work within the area.
Meanwhile, Westminster, West Coast residents complained that they are unable to access transportation to take them to their homes because of the condition of the road and they noted that bus and taxi drivers demand outrageous sums of money to take them into the area. They went on to say that the relevant authorities should place more emphasis on the community because of the rapid allocation of house lots within the area. They added that they should start making the roads more accessible and clear the drains so they can prevent the regular flooding.
One resident said she has been living in the housing scheme for over three years and there has been very little development in the Recht Door Zee, West Coast Demerara area although more persons are being allocated house lots in the area.
She said “tell the minister let he come and see what we have to live with.” Residents said that the standards of the housing scheme are dropping and they challenged the government to outline the developmental plan for the scheme because they are not seeing much change.
While residents noted that some roads are being constructed in the area, they stressed that the roads being used on a regular basis are not being mended or the construction glitches are not rectified.
“When the rain fall, we have to slush our way through the slushy roads we have,” was one of the complaints of a Harmonie Drive resident.
The resident suggested that measures should be put into place to control the amount of heavy- duty vehicles going into the little cross-streets and lanes because the roads are not built to take the weight. This, residents said, breaks up the roads, causing potholes while no action is being taken to have them mended.
Efforts to contact Ministry of Housing and Water Projects Senior Engineer Fazal Wahab, who is responsible for the maintenance of the scheme, were unsuccessful.
