At community meeting…
MINISTER of Housing and Water, Mr. Irfaan Ali, announced on Tuesday, that the government is considering the creation of an alternative entrance and exit to Diamond Housing Scheme on East Bank Demerara. He made the announcement while outlining immediate plans for the upgrade of roads in that scheme, at a community meeting, in Diamond Secondary School, to discuss development there.
Ali said a study, undertaken by the Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of Public Works, showed that there is need for it and his ministry will host another such meeting in the area, later this year, to talk more about it.
He said, for the longer term, Government is still planning to build a parallel carriageway to supplement the East Bank Highway, given the planned development of housing areas along the East Bank, in the coming years.
Addressing a large number of residents, Ali said the government is completing arrangements to extend the four-lane highway, from Providence to Diamond.
“We have earmarked an area, between the Topco Juice Factory and the Guyoil Gas Station, for the alternative route which will be joined with the four-lane road and that development is being designed right now. That will facilitate, to a very large extent, the improvement, in terms of the traffic congestion we face,” he explained.
According to him:“In late 2009, we developed a plan for the Diamond/Grove area and, in 2010, we had three meetings discussing issues affecting communities.”
He said, at the last meeting in the community, the major concerns were stray cattle, the state of the community roads and the need for the alternative entrance/exit to facilitate traffic flow.
Ali said the Diamond/Grove Scheme is one of extensive housing development areas with a mix of middle and low income houses and popular theatre and media personality, Mr. Ron Robinson, will be working within the community, as part of the efforts to make residents aware of the developments there.
The minister added:“Part of our efforts involves getting the private sector on board.”
He gave the assurance that the roads in the ‘A’ Section will be completed and priority would be given to the sectors that have more than a 75 per cent occupancy rate.
For the first phase of works, $130M is to be spent and, from First Street to Sixth Street in Diamond would be done in asphaltic concrete, while seven cross streets will be built of double bituminous surface treatment (DBST) and that expenditure will benefit 1,450 households or approximately 6,000 people, Ali related.
He said two copies of the non-priced bill of quantities will be left in the community, one with prominent resident Robinson and the other with the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), so that all who live there could ensure they get value for money.
Ali pointed out that the government is placing much emphasis on people having a stake in the monitoring of projects in their communities, as that indicates ownership of the project and, in addition to the supervising engineer, residents will monitor the project.
He said persons mixing cement on the road and forcing motor vehicle drivers to drive on the shoulders cause damage to the roads and, if everyone in the community takes a zero tolerance approach to the issue, that would make a change in the culture and attitudes of people living there.
On the issue of strays, the minister said the NDC is now empowered to employ catchers, so that some people could be made examples.
He recalled that, between 2004 and 2009, $543M were expended on infrastructure in Diamond/Grove, where,  eventually, there would be about 15,000 new house lots allocated.
Some residents raised their concerns over the lack of adequate lighting in some  areas and Ali urged them to find innovative ways of addressing the problem, because government and the local authorities might be financially constrained.
Robinson suggested that a fee be collected, from the beneficiaries, to pay for street lights in their vicinity.