Story and photos by Joanna Dhanraj
Prospect means outlook, scene, or vision but our first view of the East Bank Demerara village was not a clear one. The houses, buses, dogs lying in the streets, flowers and school children were all blurred by smoke emanating from somewhere; just where, we couldn’t tell. There are more than 2,000 residents in Prospect.
At the entrance to the village a resident, who prefers to remain anonymous, pointed to a section of the canal separating Prospect and neighbouring village, Covent Garden that was being cleaned of its stubborn weeds by a man. According to the resident, the weeds in the canal are so thick that one could walk in the canal. A resident, he said, was responsible for the little portion that the worker was cleaning since he wanted his part of the canal to look clean.
However, it was obvious that the worker could only clean the top of the weeds since the roots were too imbedded in the mud. The last time the canal was cleaned was just before the 2015 elections and although according to the resident, when the Neighbourhood Democratic Council used to clean the trench it was only cleaned of its weeds but wasn’t dug thus the build-up of the mud.
The resident said that when he was a little boy he used to play under the culvert, running “up and down” beneath it, this is impossible now since it’s all clogged up. He also made mention of the broken up road in front of him that needs repairing and according to him widening also since the road is a main access for vehicles and school children.
Natasha Thorne had just stepped off the road into her yard when we caught up with her. She lives here with her two children, her husband and his extended family. According to her, when she moved here 14 years ago the place was much like it is today. “It was quiet and