–trenches clogged up with weed and other obstructions now cleared

ABOUT five miles of heavily clogged trenches bordering both sides of the roadway the passing through the Parika-Mora neighbourhood, after several years of being in that state, have recently been cleared, bringing relief to hundreds of households in that neighbourhood.

But incredibly, this massive desilting exercise has been undertaken, not by the predominantly Opposition Parika Neighbourhood Development Council (NDC), but through grass-roots community intervention and with the blessings and cooperation of Regional Executive Officer of Region Three Dennis Jaikarran, together with Regional Social Cohesion Officer Alshazie Ramlakan and handful of private residents.

For years, the trenches have been overgrown by trees, shrubs and other forms of obstruction, and repeated calls on the majority Opposition NDC to address this debacle have fallen on deaf ears, sources say.

The 16-member Parika NDC comprises about 12 Opposition representatives and four APNU representatives.
The problem which faced residents of the neighbourhood, bordered by Parika Koker at one end and Hubu at the other, was that, because the trenches were badly clogged up, whenever there was heavy rainfall, the banks were overflowed, resulting in water accumulation on the roads and inundation of livestock and vegetable gardens.

And very often, deadly reptiles were spotted in residents’ yards. The most recent incident was where an elderly woman at Hobo discovered a snake snug in her bed one rainy night.
This frightening situation caused panic in the community and again the NDC was approached to have the trenches cleared, but they reportedly said funds were not available to undertake the dredging.

NETWORKING
When it became ‘abundantly clear’ to the minority group of councillors that the majority of the NDC were interested only in working within their own time and on their own terms, they decided that it was time to come up with a ‘Plan B.’
It was resilience, cooperation and the will to succeed on the part of a handful of committed people — with development of the neighbourhood in mind — that formed the driving force behind getting the work done.

A private resident of Mora, Romeo Fanfair, with a wealth of experience in dredging, revetment and drainage and irrigation, who worked in the employ of BK International for about 18 years, came up with a plan that would see the dredging of the trenches at minimal cost to Government.
Fanfair approached Regional Social Cohesion Officer Ramlakan, who is also a RDC Councillor, and put forward a proposal on the way forward.

The solution was to seek the assistance of the regional administration in making available two hymacs, fuel and two machine operators to undertake the dredging.

At the same time, he (Fanfair) undertook to voluntarily oversee and give guidance for the works being executed on a daily basis, assisted by Councillor Leon Moses.
Ramlakan in turn took it up with Overseer Ganesh Maipaul, explaining the urgency of the situation matter and asked what he thought about it.
Considering it workable, Maipaul took a team of officers from the Vreed-en-Hoop office to inspect and do a feasibility survey, then reported to the Regional Executive Officer, Dennis Jaikarran.

RDC TO THE RESCUE
The REO, after studying the proposal, agreed to provide the necessary resources.
That being done, work commenced early in March and much was accomplished within a few weeks. By the end of March, 10 communities within the neighbourhood had been dredged, bringing relief to residents who were high in praise for the regional administration and the team of grass-roots minded volunteers for a great job done.

Ten communities now benefitting from this initiative, namely: Parika Koker; Hyde Park, Look Out, Naamryck, Salem Mora, Bartain Stein, Roden Rust, Unity and Hobo.
Phase I of the project which saved the Council millions of dollars in the absence of having to pay private contractors huge sums of money, entailed digging and clearing trenches in those 10 communities and that has been completed.

Similar activities are being undertaken from Mora to Sparta.
Meanwhile, Phase II entails collecting the overburden (trash from the trenches) and removing it from the shoulders of the road, to prevent it getting back into the trenches whenever it rains.

The Opposition-majority NDC was asked to take on this responsibility, but to date, they have not done so and the overburden remains at the roadside, likely to get back into the trenches if heavy rains come down.