So the residents of Dalliwalla, Christianburg and Speightland took matters into their own hands. Upon hearing of the approach of the ships they hurriedly mobilise their boats and put to river. They hem in the ship – risking their lives – eventually forcing it to slow down as they preserve a U formation around it.
It isn’t of the intensity of the Rainbow Warrior dogging ships carrying nuclear waste but their actions demonstrate courage and a determination to seek their own solutions. They shouldn’t have to risk their lives.
The results of the November 28, 2011 general elections have given heart to ordinary citizens who for a long time have felt that PPP/C governments are unresponsive to their concerns and that individual action would be a waste a time. There are increasing signs that ordinary folk are prepared to stand up to unjust actions particularly where the authorities are absent and appeals to the relevant agencies and officials for help have failed to elicit a response. The residents of the Demerara River should be commended for taking their own action but should no longer put their lives at risk.
Why aren’t the maritime authorities engaged in preventing bauxite ships from disrupting these communities and posing dangers? Where are MARAD and the T&HD and the relevant government ministers? The new Region 10 Chairman has since promised to intervene.
In the interest of being a good corporate citizen, Bosai should have ensured that ships coming to pick up its bauxite navigate the Demerara River in a manner that isn’t disruptive. One resident said that numerous complaints were made to Bosai about the practice of these ships to no avail. Bosai would do well to heed these concerns given the ongoing complaints about dust pollution at its operations and other matters.
One frustrated resident who watched the mini flotilla as it manoeuvred around the ship underlined the anxieties of the community.
“You know how much damage these ships does cost us? And at the same time they destroying the river bank, our landing and our boats. Sometimes we got to be afraid to even send them children to school with the boats and instead it getting better is worse”, the resident lamented.
In this context, President Ramotar’s vow on Friday to rejuvenate village economies would be of great interest to the residents of communities like those on the Demerara River. They struggle in the first place to find sustained and sustainable livelihoods and that would be presumably the key focus of any resuscitation of village life. However, they stand little chance if their communities are so slighted through neglect and corporate indifference as in the case of the passage of the ships.
Slowly, slowly should be the mantra of these ships as they wend their way up the Demerara and we expect that in the interest of the safety of residents that the relevant authorities will move swiftly to rectify the situation.
The two fatal accidents in the Berbice River must be properly investigated by the maritime authorities and a determination made as to culpability, if any, of those in charge of the tugs. Too often, cases like these are sunk by time and official indifference. It is in this vital context that the heroic Daliwalla protest should be seen.
