Just over a dozen residents of Betsy Ground Village in East Canje, Berbice yesterday staged a picketing exercise. Their target was the Canefield/Enterprise Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) under whose jurisdiction the village falls.
The protestors, vociferous in their chants, demanded the removal of both the NDC chairman and its overseer, both of whom, they claim, are mismanaging the resources of the NDC and victimizing residents who they consider to be enemies of the council and its affiliates. Despite numerous attempts, Chairman of the Canefield/Enterprise NDC Jailall Kuldeep remained unavailable to comment.
One resident, Doodnauth Moses, who recently opened a supermarket in the village, is alleging that the council is discriminating against him because of his perceived political affiliations. He explained that the council instructed him to dismantle a shed he built on his premises which the council says is in violation of its building codes. While not denying the council’s assertion, Moses believes he is being unfairly targeted and mounted the defence that other residents in the village have similar structures and they have not attracted the ire of the NDC.
“The chairman of the NDC is very biased: he allows some residents to do things and some residents can’t do the same thing,” he said. Moses explained that he “built a shed over my front fence and he [the chairman] wants me to break it down and my neighbour has it the same way”.
Moses is claiming that “Twenty other people in Betsy Ground get it [sheds] the same way,” and is thus questioning why the council appears to only be targeting a select few.
He believes the council should be spending its time and energy on providing services to the villagers and should not trouble itself with whether or not residents are erecting structures on their own “private property”. He noted that “the street where I got to drive through is very bad and my vehicle does fasten and the NDC got a lot of brick throw away wasting in front its building.”
Moses feels he is being attacked because of his political association. He said the council recently dug a dam at the back of the village and decided to sell the dirt, but when he expressed an interest in purchasing the dirt he was refused.
He said discrimination was a common practice of the officials at the NDC and that is why he is lobbying for their removal. “I want him to remove from here!”
Another resident, Rajmattie Pooran shared similar sentiments. “The cows breaking up my entire fence, eating out my garden and when you complain the people want to kill us,” Pooran said. She too is claiming that the council is only targeting a few residents, as she was also instructed to dismantle a shed erected in her yard. Like Moses, she believes all residents should be cited for building code violations and not just a few. “I got a small shop here and I spend thousands of dollars to build my shed, to keep out the sun. So why I have to break mine down and me neighbour could keep his?” she questioned. Pooran is also calling for roads to be constructed. “We need a street to be built not a dam, so that when the rain falls we could come out; because when the rain falls you can’t come out,” she said.
Meanwhile, other residents who joined Moses and Pooran in picketing the NDC office raised other issues they have with the local government organ – from deplorable roads and poor drainage to cattle and other animals wandering the village causing destruction to property.
Khemraj Persaud, who has lived in the village for over seven years, told Stabroek News one of his main concerns is the deplorable state of the cross streets in the village. “Why is it he [the chairman] can’t put some stuff and make a walk way for us? They dig out the dam, sell out the dirt and leave the place like a cow track. When rain fall it’s a big problem and the NDC members not doing anything,” he bemoaned.
Yet another resident criticized the council for being what he described as “incompetent, complacent and lackadaisical”. He stated that the villagers “need better streets. The chairman not looking after us so he should go”.
The residents believe that if the chairman and overseer are removed, betterment will come to the village as the resources of the NDC will be better managed.
