A cement block construction business at New Annlegt, Canal Number Two, West Bank Demerara, is attracting complaints from drivers and residents alike due to its inconvenient location.
The business is owned by Tameshwar Arjune, a contractor who also resides in New Annlegt. He told Stabroek News that he would soon be closing off the operation.
When Stabroek News visited the community, finished cement blocks were observed to have taken up space along the parapet almost equivalent to the width of four residential lots in the community.
A resident of Canal Number Two who has to drive past the location on a daily basis shared that while a car and a bus are able to pass each other along this point, it will not be possible if a sand truck was sharing the road with another vehicle, as the parapet is covered with blocks on both sides. He pointed out that there is nowhere to pull over to allow a truck to go past unless one stops before the location in question and allows the truck through.
In addition, the resident said that it is impossible for a driver or a pedestrian to go past the area without inhaling cement dust, a fact which this Stabroek News reporter can attest to despite wearing a face mask.
“Some of the stuff [cement mixture] is falling on the road and when you try and mash brakes, you not getting the brakes, the car skidding. Another thing when you mixing, sometimes, bricks [stones] fall out. Let’s say you driving by and you mash one of the bricks and it pitch and hit somebody’s windscreen, who is responsible for the damage?” the same resident asked
He recounted an incident where another driver was passing by when cement blew into his car and he couldn’t see where he was driving. This ended in an argument between the driver and the workers.
“This chap that get the contract for this work, he got a 602 rods in length [of yard space]… Why he can’t go at the back of his premises and do it? They have a big place. Why come on the road?”
According to the man he first made a complaint to the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in October and has been doing so every month after that. He also spoke with several persons in the area who said that they were being affected by the business but were afraid of speaking out for fear of victimisation.
When Stabroek News contacted Canal Number Two NDC Chairman, Yogieram Das, about the ongoing situation, Das said he knew of the cement blocks being made along the parapet of the road but was not aware of any complaints made to the NDC.
However, it turns out that three of the residents of New Annlegt knew of the complaints that were made. They all asked to remain anonymous. One woman said that the dust was affecting her at her residence and she did not like the smell of the fuel used to operate the cement mixer. However, a man who was purchasing kerosene from a passing fuel truck posited that while there are side effects from the business, it is not too bothersome and he went on to praise the owner of the business for providing employment for the labourers, some of whom, he said, were working at the Wales Sugar Estate at the time of its closure. He was annoyed at the fact that persons would make complaints to the NDC.
A resident who lived in the area said he is related to the owner of the business and knew of the complaints made to the NDC. The man said he learnt from the owner that the business is as a result of a contract he got with a docking company along the East Bank of Demerara. He added that since the complaints, the owner has explained that the bulk of the work is almost finished and he will be moving the making of the blocks from off of the road. The resident further said that the businessman in question has provided work for more than twenty-five persons and that some of the residents in the area have also benefitted from scraps from the blocks.
When this newspaper met with the owner of the business, Arjune, he shared that the business operated for six weeks during the latter part of last year and that since the new year began, the business has only been in operation for two weeks.
Asked whether he knew of the complaints made to the NDC concerning the location of his business, the man said he was indeed aware as he was contacted by the NDC. According to the man, the NDC has given him time to move as he had explained to them that the block-making contract is almost at an end and the works will be moved to the open area behind where he lives. The businessman informed that he intended on doing so within the next two weeks and showed this newspaper the red loam that had been spread along a path that will lead to the new location. He is dissatisfied that the same persons who made the complaints to the NDC never sought to tell him before speaking to the NDC.
“We got like a mile at the back we can use for making the blocks and we started preparation already. NDC call me and tell me I mustn’t leave the blocks them pile up on the road and every day we carrying away the blocks them,” the man said. At the work site along the road, workers could be seen packing a truck with blocks to be taken away.
“I don’t get problem with people here. Every single body come for help, I does help them. All them guys working with me used to work at GuySuCo and they get laid off. The last thing I want is problem with people so we will come off the road. This contract got like two/three more months but we will move soon,” Arjune assured. He further explained that the delay in moving to the back is as a result of the weather as he would need an excavator to access the vacant land being prepared as the new worksite.
A third driver who spoke with this newspaper said that aside from drivers being unable to use the parapet, he had no other issues and sees the business in the area being a good thing as it provided employment.
