PEOPLE’s Progressive Party (PPP) Members of Parliament, Mr Cornel Damon of Region 2 and social worker Isahak Basir  made an extensive visit on Essequibo between the areas of Mainstay and Aurora.

Mr Damon met with several community members along the roadside and listened to views, proposals, setbacks and progress as well in the region. Mr Damon complimented the private sector for their support to uplift Essequibo where we now have within an area of 20 kilometres, three supermarkets, five modern rice mills, six fuel stations, three housing schemes, five hotels and four secondary schools. Queenstown Village, founded in 1840, now has a prestigious hotel, fuel station and a new primary school.
The burly parliamentarian advised farmers to invest more in other crops and in cattle-rearing. Region 2 now has about 12 provision trucks that serve the 60,000 odd residents.
Mr Damon also visited areas of sea defence maintenance. Mr Basir spoke to vehicle owners and while complimenting the traffic division, he said that traffic control is everybody’s business.
Mr Basir, who has 56 years of driving experience, said that vehicular traffic has increased by 300 per cent within the last five years and as such there are five public car parks to facilitate commuters.
The Charity Park, which was the brainchild of  Mr Basir, said as from July 2013 vehicle owners, residents and contractors will have to remove all obstacles, be it sand, earth or any materials hindering road shoulders, and mixing of concrete on streets or roadways as this is illegal and the offence carries a heavy penalty. He also advised that truck owners must ensure that residents remove sand or earth off the roads.
He mentioned that heaps of sand on the public road has caused many fatal accidents and recently dozens of new vehicles have appeared on the public road as much inexperienced drivers can be identified. The Traffic Department needs the support of citizens to save lives.