—Black Bush Polder residents bemoan drug abuse, robberies in community
–call on President, police to find solution to scourge
By Farah Bates
Widespread use of drugs and theft among youths in the Black Bus Polder community were one of several issues raised when President Irfaan Ali last week visited the remote farming community in the East Berbice Corentyne Region.
Ali was accompanied by Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, and Guyana Defence Force, Chief of Staff, Brigadier Godfrey Bess, Regional Commander Jairam Ramlakhan and National Security Adviser on Security Captain, Gerry Gouveia.
Ali, during his visit addressed each matter on the spot and also tasked his Regional team to ensure the necessary works are completed up to standard and within a specific time frame. Some of those matters that were raised by the residents include, water, drainage, security and road issues.
A resident of Yakasari noted that the police have not been doing their work within the community, as many young adults are involved in drugs and more. He noted that the young males around the community who are abusing the drugs have been constantly breaking into people’s canteen and stealing items from people around the area. “Dope smoking gone wild in this place. 15 years and 14 year-old boys deh smoking and them thieving and so. It is getting worse for we because them policemen only know to run behind us with our motorcycle that we does use to go to we farm and backdam. They gatto look after them dope men. We does use a bike to we farm because all a we does do farming in this community. We fear for we children and grandchildren and the police need to do something,” the resident told the President.
In the presence of President Ali, Regional Commander, Jairam Ramlakhan addressed the issue saying that his ranks had been continuously combing the community but with little success. Black Bush Polder is one of communities with a high rate of suicide cases. President Ali, asked Commander Ramlakhan if he was aware of the concerns of the residents and the commander answered in the affirmative, adding that he had received information on several occasions and conducted a number of searches in the area and found nothing. “All the information we received, we worked on. Every week my officers have been checking all the houses that were identified and so far nobody was found. And the residents are aware of that because I was in here many times,” Ramlakhan said. President Ali then promised residents to send in a team from the Joint Services to do educational programmes for the young people of the community and then bring in the Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture to ensure the community have recreational activities to support its young people and draw them away from the use of drugs. He further noted that the team will be working along with the Commander and as early as next week the plan will be activated.
Poor drainage
Residents also complained about the drainage system in the area and according to some, those who are responsible for cleaning the drains have been doing a poor job as the community is easily flooded whenever it rains.
Minister Mustapha in response noted that the members of the Water Users Association for Black Bush Polder were not paid and so nothing was done. Ali, then intervened and noted that they are now paying those members and sorting out the issue in a timely manner. As such he informed the residents that very soon those workers from the Water Users Association will be on the ground again.
Another issues raised by the residents was the supply of water. According to them, they have been receiving water from Johanna for several months now. They further stated that the water they received is just for only a short period of time during the day. To directly address this issue, President Ali immediately made a telephone call to CEO of the Guyana Water Inc. Sheik Baksh who told the president that there were some issues with the well and works to have it fixed will begin by next Wednesday. He further noted that the well is quite old and as early as next week, workers will begin to clear the obstacles that are in the well which he estimated will take about one week.
“As a substitute, we were able to get water running from Johanna to Yakasari and everybody agreed that they will get about 8-10 hours of running water per day rather than having the continuous flow of water for 24 hrs that they are accustomed to. They all agreed to 8-10 hrs of water a day and that will be rotated; Johanna will get 8 hrs and Yakasari will get 8 hrs, this was agreed when I discussed it with the residents,” Baksh related.
Road repairs
Additionally, Minister Edghill addressed the road issues and informed the residents that a $600 million road project is underway that will seek to do remedial work on the main access road. He said a contract is expected to be signed by May, the latest to have that $60 million project rolled out.
He also stated that residents have complained about the internal roads and the state in which they are in, especially when the rain falls. As such, Minister Edghill noted that At least $300 million have been set aside to be spent on miscellaneous roads in the Region over the next year.
