The demolition of the “illegal” footbridge by residents of Lamaha Springs following a spate of robberies in the community has now forced workers and schoolchildren of neighbouring ‘C’ Field Sophia to use a longer route to access transportation and schools.
At the area on Monday afternoon, adults returning from work and a school child were observed walking across a heavily vegetated trench, which separates Sophia and Lamaha Springs. The persons who crossed the trench said they were caught by surprise at the removal of the bridge on Saturday.
“They are saying that this bridge is used by criminals but we know we use this bridge to get to work and the children use to get to school in South Ruimveldt. Criminals come from all over, not all thief men are from Sophia. Good people live in Sophia too,” a disturbed resident, who showed up to use the bridge while Stabroek News was at the scene said.
The man explained that because of transportation difficulties in ‘C’ Field Sophia persons would use the bridge to access a shorter route for work and school.
“Children would have to walk about 45 minutes around here [from ‘C’ Field to ‘B’ Field through Lamaha Park to Lamaha Springs, Kaikan Street and then to Aubrey Barker road] to get to school in South [Ruimveldt] here. The bridge use to allow the children to have a short cut to school. Some mornings I would feel sorry for some of them and offer to give them a drop because of the distance they have to walk,” the man pointed out.
Chairman of the United Cooperative Housing Society, retired Brigadier George Lewis, said that robberies of homes and persons are a regular occurrence in the community. In the last week, he said, at least 10 robberies have occurred. This represents a drastic spike over the previous months when there was an average of two robberies of homes per month.
With the spike in robberies, Lewis told Stabroek News on Sunday, residents decided to put a stop to it.
“The community decided to come together [yesterday] and take action and look at how we can reduce the crimes committed in our community,” Lewis told Stabroek News.
He said that from their investigations, they found that the perpetrators of most robberies would quickly escape through the ‘illegal’ bridges connecting the two communities.
Another man told this newspaper that the move by the residents illustrates their preconception of residents in Sophia.
“It is because we are of a different class of people and we don’t get pay the big money they does get, we are receiving this kind of treatment,” the man argued as he and his friends geared up to take their bicycles with them across the trench.
A student of South Ruimveldt told this newspaper that the bridge allowed her to reach to school in time given that she had a shorter distance. Now with the bridge no longer in existence, the student said she will have to use the longer route.
Not prepared to use the lengthy route after school on Monday, the student equipped herself with a length of 2×4 wood, walked to the trench, dropped it across, and using it as a bridge, made her way over and proceeded home.
Stabroek News understands that police patrols are conducted in the community from time to time but they are not always present in the community.
Most of the homes that were robbed, were broken into during the course of the day while the occupants were at work.
The burning of the bridge has been seen in the community as an extreme measure reflecting the failure of the police to provide adequate security.
