Interviews and photos by Oliceia Tinnie and David Papannah
Do you know who your constituency councillor is or who is in charge of your NDC or town council? What improvements are needed in your part of the city or NDC? These were the questions asked of the man and the woman in the street this week.
Keith Hicks
`I don’t really know who is in charge of my area. I do think though that they should clean the drains more. I live in Rose Hall and most of the drains need more clearing because they clogged up. If rain is to fall for a long period definitely we will get flood. So I think they should clear it more often, other than that I have no issues. I’ve been living here all of my life and it has developed over the years. There is room for improvement but I think with time those improvements will be made.’
Darren Bijadder
`Our village don’t really need much improvement you know. I have light, water and everything. I would often clean my drains by myself because I don’t really want to get flood out. I really think people need to do their part in their own village, in order for it to be developed. We can’t always wait for the people in charge to clean our surroundings and so on. I don’t know the NDC people and I’ve never really seen them in the village.’
Olney Goring
`I live in Kitty, and the drainage system in that area is poor. I think that the council can do a lot more in the area in terms of cutting the grass which tends to become very overgrown. Garbage is also another issue in the area.’
Shawn Pereira
`I live at Williiamsburg, Corentyne. I think the Rose Hall Town Council is in charge of our area. I have met the Mayor, Mr. Ramoo and I think the drainage needs improvement. Because as soon as rain falls some yards in the village flood. The last time I saw someone clean the drains was about two months ago. Honestly speaking, it needs to be cleared more often than two months, maybe every two weeks. We don’t want people’s yard flooding as soon as it rains. Other than that I think my village is quite developed. It really is okay for now.’
Joycelyn Forde
`I am familiar with the NDC in my area. My community has overgrown bushes and the roads are not fixed properly. I’ve never contacted the NDC but it’s so visible and obvious that they should see it. I’ve realized though that you don’t have to wait on the central government to do things in your community. We have to approach them and demand certain things. Community leaders just need to be more proactive.’
Tunica Smith
`As a resident of Craig I am not pleased with two things in my area. One of the main things is the way in which people dispose of their garbage. Imagine a bin can be seen at a particular corner on the road (old road) but it is always overflowing and heaps of garbage can be seen all around it. That area is very untidy and unsightly, and unkempt. Every morning on my way to school the sight of that area make me feel so sick. I think that something should be done about this problem so that we can have a healthier environment. Another issue in the area is noise pollution. I believe that it is very disturbing to know that you are living around people and they can make you very uncomfortable with their loud music. Sometime when I’m writing my lesson plan for school I can’t even write it in peace, how the music loud. I think that persons should be more considerate when it comes to playing their music. Hopefully these issues can be corrected by the NDC for my area.’
Lauren Ramsarran
`I am a resident of Rose Hall Town and the biggest issues we have in this town is the poor garbage collection and the uncleanliness of the drains and parapets. They really need to have the place clean and have the garbage collected in a timely manner because when they don’t, persons dump their garbage all over and sometimes the animals would empty the bins to find food. As it relates to the drains they need to clean them because the other day rainfall was heavy and some people were flooded out. They use to have persons cleaning the drains but I don’t see that happening now.’
Lakeisha Roberts
`In Rose Hall Town there are many issues that need to be addressed. I know we have a new council but over the year since the local government elections I have not seen any difference. We need street lights the arch road which is popular is very dark at nights. Then council sometimes forgets to pick up garbage and it’s left there till Monday when the workers return to work. Sometimes it is so messy you don’t want to walk on the road. We need the drains to be cleaned too much bushes have grown and overtaken the drains. These issues need to be addressed.’
Leon Crawford
`I don’t really live in my home town because of work and I don’t really know who is in charge. However, the last time I went home which was a few weeks ago I noticed the place is filled with overgrown bushes on the side of the road it looks as if they had cleaned the drains and the mud and garbage was never removed from the corners and now it is filled with bushes. I also realised there is a need for street lights because the roads are dark like pitch black and I think it is kind of dangerous. The issues really need to be addressed.’