Residents of Noitgedacht and neighbouring communities Fair’s Rust and Watooka say if the BOSAI bauxite company fails to address the prevailing dust, noise and flooding problems as they have committed to doing they are prepared to take to the streets.
Of the group, Noitgedacht is the hardest hit community as they are located below BOSAI’s crusher and bauxite plants. The company hauls its raw bauxite from the mine sites through a road which sits in the immediate rise of Noitgedacht.
The road was built with loose overburden and other dusty materials and runs through an area which was once a dyke created during the days of Guymine. Noitgedacht boasts about 50-60 households.
“The problem we have here could have been solved if BOSAI was keeping their promise to the people of this community,” a resident said.
She noted that more than two years ago, the company had promised to wet the road regularly to quell the dust which showers down on the community. “They started to do a sprinkle thing and after two or three times they stopped saying that the truck broke down and till this day we ain’t see that road wetting ever again and is showers of dust we have to endure,” another resident said.
The access road to the community is a slurry slush which paralyses ingress and egress. Further, the slush blocks the main drains, culverts and creek which in the past has caused severe flooding and which is looming again. “Rain or no rain we are at risk of another major flood because how dis company (Bosai) draining and not desilting. If they don’t address these problems we going to the street.”
Another resident said that in the past the community and company had open communication. “We got to give credit where it is due. When Peter Benny (was there), he is not any special friend of mine, but he had a schedule of when they would have hauled the truck and would come to us and say that from X time to X time we’ll be sorry to disturb your peace with the trucks passing overhead,” another resident told this newspaper.
According to the resident the community recently brought the matter to the attention of the leaders of the region, which resulted in another attempt to engage BOSAI. Stabroek News caught up with officials of both the Linden municipality and BOSAI on a walk-around to visit relief mechanisms. “What I really wanted was for the Chinese boss man (BOSAI Manager) to come here himself cause these officers they send they don’t listen to them and all the promises does fall on the wayside.”
According to Town Clerk Patrick Innis, BOSAI has indicated that it has a number of stop-gap plans that are to be put in place in addition to long-term plans to address residents’ concerns. Senior Personnel Officer Vance Reid who was also on site confirmed this.
He explained that in the short-term the company is prepared to revisit the process of wetting the road and washing the other to lessen the dust and slush problems and they will also address the problem of the silted drains. “In the long term, and that is by June of this year, we have plans to redirect the crossover road from the crusher to the plant, we will also take on board the idea to cap this road with another material to address this problem once and for all,” Reid said.
Residents are also calling on the company to re-introduce the system of a scheduled time for the hauling of bauxite by trucks. They have also said that if they are not satisfied that the company is keeping its commitments they will protest.
