RESIDENTS of Better Hope-South on the East Coast of Demerara feel disrespected by the recent move of the Better Hope/La Bonne Intention Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) to give them construction rubble to fill the many potholes in their streets.
On Sunday, several residents gathered to speak with the media about the piles of broken concrete, still with steel and pvc pipes in them, which were offloaded in piles in several locations in the community.

According to former NDC councillor and now Community Youth Leader Ulita Moore, the chairman is expecting residents to pound or grind the debris into smaller pieces to place it on the roads.

“I came home one day and I saw one load up the road, so I assumed that somebody broke their house down and was using it to build their yard. Then I came down the road and saw three other loads; and I was told it was from the Better Hope/ LBI NDC and it was given to us by the councillors who claimed that since we were on the TV with the minister asking for better roads, they gave us this,” Moore said, adding:

“But I see it as a slap in the face and a total disrespect to the persons within this community.”
She explained that for over 30 years, the residents of Better Hope South have been complaining about the condition of their roads.

However, now that others like herself are speaking out to the government, they are being targeted as Moore claims the chairman is now threatening to sue her for comments made.
“We have had a lot of good things coming from our government, but when it comes down to the NDC who receives money to help do these kinds of things, they’re not doing it for us, because they claim we are supporters of the government. But we are residents whether or not we choose to support them. Like how they choose to support the PPP, we choose to support the government. Does that make us criminals?” she said.

Moore is also calling on the government to commence a forensic audit into the Better Hope/LBI NDC for mismanagement of funds.

Meanwhile, NDC councillor of the area, Kasai Whittington, told the media that the council, on which he is outnumbered by opposition supporters, went ahead with the move without consulting him.

“As the current councillor I was never informed about the rubble that they came and dumped on the road. They’re supposed to inform me about everything that’s taking place in my community and they never did,” he said.
“Builder’s waste, it doesn’t build road, it destroys roads more because after a while when you spread it down, vehicles will start using the parapets…they should be wise enough to know certain things.”

Seventy-seven year-old resident Sita Beharry said that while she heard that the chairman expects the residents to do the rest of the work, she will be unable to so do.
“Do you know the years I’ve lived in this place and I’ve punished? We don’t have any good road and the vehicle can’t go up to my [yard]…my husband sick and the car can’t go up to the gate. We have to stop the taxi and hold his hand so he can walk out. We want a good road,” she said.

Others like Margaret Innis and Waveney Joe want to see the council begin to respect the community without favour or race and build new roads.

“The whole front is well-tarred road. We have some big potholes, wuh they bring these concrete for? They have steel in them; who’s going to look it after? Why don’t they give us good roads like the rest of roads they provide for their [supporters]?” Innis said.

Joe added: “These bricks that they bring here, this is slavery. We don’t need potholes to be filled, we need the road to be dug up and we want to have a firm road…[plus] we’re working and we cannot come and do self-help work because these things need machines.”
Meanwhile, Peter Glasglow said that when it rains, the road is inaccessible and persons leaving or returning from vacation have to fetch their suitcases on their heads to get transportation.
“I think this is ridiculous. It’s time for them to do something in this neighbourhood,” he said.