IT is refreshing to read Ms. Vilma DaSilva’s proposals to improve the environment of Charity, Pomeroon River, appearing in your Wednesday edition, “PPP/C Councillor proposes triple-deck market for Charity”. I travel to Charity monthly, and find the municipality dirty, shabby and filled with pot-holed roads. It is a stark contrast to the clean Essequibo Coast which one must pass through on the way to Charity.
There is absolutely no infrastructural development taking place there, although many new private structures have been built, especially by the Alphonso family.
The main road is dusty and dirty, and shoddy patchwork is evident. The road outside the Pomeroon Oil Factory is almost impassible, given the many pot-holes that must be carefully navigated to avoid serious damage to one’s vehicle. People there are often seen dumping their trash in the river.
Ms. Da Silva recommends a triple-deck market perhaps because land space is scarce, and thus one needs to build high to compensate for this. I don’t have an opinion on this. Charity, like all village markets, has to cater for “permanent” and “transient” vendors.
For Charity, the transients operate only on Mondays, which is Market Day. So, a suitable marketplace should contain permanent structures, and temporary ones that can be dismantled and removed after Market Day.
The market for permanent vendors should be different from that of the transients. For permanent vendors, it should contain conforming structures, whether in triple-deck buildings or otherwise, with well painted and maintained shops, as seen at the Anna Regina market. A tarmac would suffice for the transients. No structure should be allowed on the tarmac that cannot be removed at the end of the day.
Converted vans with drop-down sides where goods can be displayed would be ideal for such vendors. But once such a market is developed, all other shabby structures around the municipality should be dismantled.
The dumping of garbage, on the other hand, is cultural. Cultural changes are difficult, because the action is ingrained in the psyche, but can be addressed through education and harsh penalties. Making an example of those caught littering and dumping will discourage the tendency. This requires a structured programme to go after the dumpers through surveillance and other monitoring methods of the river front and market areas. Further, knowing surveillance cameras are in place will add to the discouragement of these illegal acts.
The road conditions just indicate that those in authority there have no pride in their municipality. I have already reported on the shoddy patchwork seen on the main road in a previous letter. The wharf that floated into the river has never been replaced, and I know of no plans to do so, resulting in inadequate landing space for people and goods.
Many private structures have sprung up over the past several years in Charity, but eventually these investments would all be diminished by the lack of infrastructural development and inept management. Ms. Da Silva’s proposal is just the beginning, and must be followed up with action.

LOUIS HOLDER