By Mario Joseph
(This is the seventh in a series on local government)
In the shadow of Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara, there exists a small squatter settlement just off the Public Road shielded only by a large church and loads of bushes. Behind those bushes live over 100 Guyanese, with nowhere to turn to, people who have set up squatting homes as their refuge under the authority of the former government that permitted them to do so. In the location called the Swan Street Squatting Area, named after the well-laid road, built only a year ago, the street provides their only direct access to makeshift footpaths that lead to their homes.
Stabroek News observed a stunning change of scenery from the neatly carved infrastructure throughout most of the West Coast Village of Pouderoyen and nearby villages of Best, Klien and Vreed-en-Hoop, to a depressing way of life for many who cling to little hope. The first resident to be located, lived just off the edge of the squalid settlement. Her name was Sherene Hamilton and she has seven children to care for. Her home was poorly constructed with rotten wood thatched together by some rusty nails suspended over a garbage heap. The matchbox home which could be described as an all in one, bedroom, living room and kitchen, with no indoor bathroom would be no bigger than one quarter the size of a public school classroom. This makeshift abode has been called home for the 32 year old for the past 15 years and the entire lives of each of her seven children, the eldest of whom is 14 years old.
Hamilton’s complaints were endless, starting with the deprivation of electricity, water and telephone lines, which are just the basics. She said that she and several residents had visited the Guyana Power and Light, Guyana Water Incorporated and Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company on numerous occasions only to be turned away or to face the blunt bureaucracy of the Government which she says is intended to make you give up. She says she experiences severe flooding even when there is only little rainfall. With her home situated over some mud and bordering a cemetery, the underside of the suspended house displayed loads of garbage infused with sewage and cemetery water. Though the odour was not as revolting, during the visit by Stabroek News, Rollins said that at times it can be hard to bear. The stench however was not her main worry, since she said that the unsanitary environment was a cause for grave health concerns. She said that it is inhumane for her and her children and the 100 or so other persons living in the area to live under these conditions. To this end she said, “I’m pleading with the government to help out in this situation. We want water, it’s hard to live without it in your home.”
Neighbour to Hamilton, Stephanie Rollins reiterated the same woes as she stated that she has four children to care for, the eldest of whom is seven years old. Rollins, 22, says that she has lived in the neighbourhood all her life and now has a large family of her own and still has to deal with the same problems she faced growing up. She stated that the Government should take efforts to regularize the area since it’s peoples’ lives that they are playing with. She went on to say that by ignoring their plight, leaving them without the basic amenities of electricity, water and telephone and by extension internet access, they’re being excluded from the development of the country. “We don’t even have a lot number for our houses, all we can say is that we live on Swan Street when some people live 4 or 5 houses deeper in the area, off the street. It’s like we don’t belong”. She went on to say that her neighbourhood is a peaceful place and that everyone lives like family and that they all know each other. She continued, “We don’t have crime but we do have dangerous animals like “camoudi” snakes and alligators, lurking in the deep stagnated waters and bushes”.
The two were then questioned on their knowledge of the local government institution in place to address their needs as a community and represent them to the central government. They proved to know of the existence of their Neighbourhood Democratic Council but knew little of the organisation and responsibilities except for the commonly known drain cleaning and garbage collection responsibility. On the subject of garbage, they said that they have to pay Pooran Brothers Disposal Service to collect their garbage, but accept the circumstance because they are squatters. They made it clear that they are not satisfied with the work the council is doing and this introduced the topic of Local Government Elections (LGE). The two admitted to knowing little of the elections, having never experienced it but said that they have been hearing about it frequently on the news. The only comment that they provided regarding the withholding of the elections was that it was terrible and that they would be glad to have it.
Daniel Rawlins, a 19 year old from the Swan Street Squatting Area, said that he has lived there all his life and has been concerned for his community ever since he was a child. He reiterated the exact sentiments of residents interviewed before him, pleading for a better way of life. Witnessing his family struggle to raise him, he says has stirred something in him to strive for better. With little opportunity available to him, for education
and work, Rawlins said that he has turned his hand towards the Community Policing Group to contribute to a safer surrounding for his downtrodden community and the nearby villages. He enquired of Stabroek News the reason for the visit and after it was explained to him, the topic of Local Government was introduced. To this end, Rawlins had very little knowledge but was eager to learn. He sat intently and even asked clarifying questions about the local government process and at the
end of it had this to say, “We need a change. We need someone to stand up for everyone. Since I am of age, despite being downcast, I have the passion to work towards helping out because that’s what we need, people desirous of helping out’”. At the very least, he declared his support towards the call for local government elections and his willingness to participate when it is called. Rawlins had no opinion of the current NDC except that he believes that they don’t support his community because it has not been regularized. He however was grateful for the roads that have been well done throughout the villages along the beginning of the West Coast.
Slap-dash
Along the smooth asphalt road of Middle Street, Pouderoyen, bounded by modern concrete and wooden houses on each side with street lights here and there, residents would seemingly have little to nothing to complain about. This wasn’t the case as 58- year-old resident and shop owner, June Abrams, who has lived there all her life, highlighted. She made it clear that the community floods very easily because of the poor drainage system bestowed to them. She pointed to the vegetation-filled drains, trenches and canals which she said is the main culprit. She also said that the drains not only need to be cleared but dug deeper so that the waters can flow and relieve them of the plague as she put it. This responsibility she believed belonged to the NDC, whom she clearly believes is doing an inadequate job at addressing the concerns of the community, whose residents live like family. The little work she says they do, is sloppy or purely cosmetic. She however shifted some of the blame away from the officers in charge of the NDC towards the actual workers whom she says are the ones who do the actual “slap-dash” work. Still she said, the NDC should make it their duty to get value for the money paid to the labourers to clear and clean the drains. Garbage collection was the other issue Abrams called out the NDC on. She indicated that
there was no garbage problem but that it was only because the residents pay Pooran Brothers’ Disposal Service to collect their refuse. This she said, is the job of the NDC to whom, her community pays rates and taxes to. As it relates to LGE, Abrams said, “We supposed to be voting people in there (NDC). If it’s every 3 years, the elections is due then the government should do the right thing. How can they make us wait 20 years?”
A resident and labourer of Middle Street by the name of Shawn Burrowes said that he has done some volunteer work for the NDC on the West Bank Demerara School because he was concerned for the children. He pointed to expanses of
vegetation that are overwhelming parapets and drains everywhere that he would like to see removed. In need of work, the 29-year-old said that he cannot do all that for free. He did not have much knowledge of the responsibilities and composition of the NDC nor of local government but did have something encouraging to say. Burrowes said, “We don’t experience a lot of wrong in our community and I am not a very educated man but I am happy. The only thing I can say is that the relevant authority needs to do something to maintain the beauty of our community. I don’t like to rely on other people so I do what I can for myself”. Regarding Local Government Elections, he just said that it is troubling to not have the elections for 20 years and gave his support towards the call and his assurance to vote if it’ll help keep the community clean.
The West Coast/Bank NDC is responsible for 20 villages that include Vreed-en-Hoop, Pouderoyen, Klien and Best and is north-bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, south by Swan Street, west by Windsor Forest’s main dam and east by the Demerara River. It includes some eight schools, a regional hospital, a police station, a Magistrate’s court, a cemetery and two playgrounds. At the NDC itself, there is a branch of the Ministry of Human Services and a section of the Ministry of Home Affairs, called the House of Justice Project. The NDC functions with a staff of six, consisting of an Overseer, Assistant Overseer, Superintendent of Works and three security guards who work three, eight- hour shifts. The local democratic office does not have any major machinery to conduct excavation of drains or garbage collection or other substantial work. The WCD/WBD NDC is currently run by an Interim Management Committee (IMC), composed of the full complement of 18 persons, with 12 of them assigned by the Government and the other six being from a community-based group. The IMC is chaired by Umesh Balram and the vice-chair is
Surujpaul Singh. Balram has been in charge of the NDC for the past five to six years, appointed by the Ministry of Local Government. He shared some of the challenges and successes of the council over the past few years with Stabroek News.
Playgrounds
Boasting about his NDC being on top of its responsibilities, with the various communities’ infrastructure being in pristine condition, Balram sought to highlight the level of development the community has been able to manifest. Some of the successes the Chairman boasted about were the development of all the playgrounds within the communities, fostering youth development and sports, the 15 roads built through the CDB-funded Community Roads Improvement Project (CRIP) last year and the maintenance of the remaining roads and other infrastructure. The above, he said has contributed to the economic growth of the region and the improvement of the schooling with the West Bank Demerara Secondary School turning out the highest overall passes at the Caribbean Secondary Examinations Council.
Addressing the challenges faced by the council, he started off with the issue of illegal vending which he says is a problem faced by all councils. He stated that it is difficult to stop illegal
disposal of garbage, deal with the issue of squatting, and the antelope grass that grows at an alarming rate which the council just cannot keep up with. The last of the issues he mentioned was that communities are erecting illegal street lights, an issue GPL is currently taking steps to curb. The chairman, said that he is happy that he had not raised the rate of calculation of rates and taxes which is designed to make the most of the current valuation of properties. He is also proud of the efficient garbage disposal service that the community benefits from, despite it being provided by a private contractor. In this regard, he said that the council does not have the resources to collect garbage itself which include the machinery, staff, and landfill, not to mention the funding for all of that. He went on to say that if the residents wanted that service they’d have to pay a higher tax.
Balram said that the work he does is a humanitarian service, not a job. He further said that he engages the people in the community and the higher authority, going beyond the call of duty to address the needs of the people. His time at the NDC, was described as good, since he says he has built good relationships with most residents, the schools, the regional democratic authority and the central government. When asked about his thoughts on democracy in Guyana and the need for LGE which hasn’t been held for the past 20 years, Balram refused to make a direct statement on the matter. He however had this to say, “The people are not educated enough about LGE, some of them don’t even know about the NDC and to ask them to vote on something they know nothing about is not something we should do. What should be done is a sensitizing campaign or the people should seek to educate themselves. Further, the people should become more involved in their communities and care about the development of their locals.” The chairman was asked about the shantytown on Swan Street, to which he responded saying, it’s a squatting area outside his jurisdiction which ends immediately at that street and that he is responsible for the northern side which Stabroek News observed, is equipped with the basic water, electricity, telephone service, etc.
