Dear Editor,
Recently I woke up one morning and found my yard at Lot 54 Aurora Village, Essequibo Coast, and all of my neighbours’ yards flooded with about three to four inches of water. Of course it had rained heavily for a couple of hours the night before, so we were not very surprised to see some amount of water, but of course not that amount, so myself and neighbours gathered together and started to discuss the main reasons for it and how this flooding could be avoided.
First we observed that the water in the river was at a very low level, with about four hours to high tide, so it was easy to conclude that this flooding was mainly caused by silted-up drains ‒ drains that have all kinds of weed and grass, as well as fallen trees blocking same. This is because of the total neglect by the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) of Good Hope-Pomona. I must emphasize that the area in question is situated not more than fifty yards from the river, so it is reasonable to expect that once these drains and other outlets are cleared there should be no flooding lasting for hours, no matter how hard it pours.
The truth is that the NDC for the better part of two decades has done nothing or very little to desilt and clear the drainage system, despite several floods which have destroyed crops and livestock belonging to the tax-paying residents. This is despite several complaints and evidence made available, and it has now met a stage where people believe that going to the NDC office to complain is a total waste of time and money, because all the Overseer and Ranger will tell them is that money is not available.
On a related issue, the Good Hope market situated at the beginning of the road in the Good Hope-Pomona NDC has more than fifty vendors, and is very busy with shoppers on any given day. However, there has been no washroom facility for more than two years, the original facility having been dismantled by the Council so as to accommodate more vendors and never replaced. It is difficult to understand how and why such a decision could be taken by reasonable thinking men and women (councillors); it is unbelievable. I ask that if readers are in the area that they visit the market; it would take less than ten minutes. Entering through the front gate, they will see the volume of business that is done there, and yet there is no washroom.
I also ask that they exit through the back entrance. I will not give any further direction, because they cannot miss the huge garbage heap that is there; not seeing the garbage is like walking on the road and not seeing a ten-ton truck on the roadside. This eyesore has been there from the time the market was commissioned more than a decade ago.
I know the former Local Government Minster and the current one, and I can tell you when I was a member of the Regional Democratic Council of Region Two, this issue of garbage collection was always discussed at all levels in meetings addressed by former Minister Kellawan Lall and present Minister Ganga Persaud. Sad to say, the garbage collection issue is not confined to the Good Hope-Pomona market, but all the other markets in the region managed by the municipal and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils, namely, Good Hope, Suddie, Cotton Field, Anna Regina and Charity.
I rather suspect that before the local government elections that may be held this year, a valiant effort would be made to clear up all those stockpiles of garbage everywhere and to desilt all the clogged drains, in addition to making available to us many of the other services that we were paying for, services we deserve. Of course, it would never be too late, but in the meantime remember wha Banwarie say, and bear you chafe.
Yours faithfully,
Archie W Cordis
Former RDC Councillor
Region Two
