THE streets of Plantation Providence, East Bank Demerara, will soon be brightly lit as government has begun installing lights along the main road.

Over the past year, residents have been calling on the relevant authorities to provide better roads and street lights. As such, over the weekend government commenced the installation of lamp posts along the main road. The project is being carried out by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
The project will facilitate energy-efficient street lights that will enhance visibility for drivers and other road users at night.

The main road which stretches for over two miles becomes pitch dark at night and stray horses, cows and sheep would often wander on the roadway. This has been deemed a safety hazard and is also responsible for many fatal and damage accidents which occurred at nighttime in the community.
The call for adequate road lights was done by taxi drives and villagers, given the rise of robberies and carjacking in the area.
Sherwin Smith, a resident of the upper East Bank community, said that he is grateful for the streetlights which he deemed a “blessing.”

He explained to the Guyana Chronicle that only a few weeks ago, a woman was robbed on the Providence Public Road while awaiting a taxi.
“Two men roll up pon de lady and beat she,” Smith said. “Dem run away wid she bag and t’ing. Dem t’ings is normal fuh de road front.
“Only last week,” he added, “a taxi man pick up a man at de road head, and he didn’t even know was a bandit. When they meet de road end, de man pull out a gun and tek ‘way he money an’ he car.”

One frustrated resident who is a pineapple farmer, told the Guyana Chronicle that he was recently awakened out of a deep sleep, only to be confronted by three heavily armed men.
The men reportedly held him at gunpoint and relieved him of a quantity of cash and other valuables.

In another incident, a taxi driver was just about to pull up outside his home after he had finished working, when he was ambushed by three men armed with guns and knives. He was not only beaten but was robbed also and relieved of his vehicle.
Another resident, who declined to give her name, said her son was recently shot in his leg while coming home from school.

“My son caught a car from the road head like normal, and when he stop off at the corner to walk in,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks, “like somebody came out the same time and was following him.”

The woman said her son’s assailant not only held him at gunpoint and robbed him, but when he tried to raise an alarm, the man shot him in the leg.
“I believe that there should be a police outpost in the community, which would help make our lives safer in the village,” the woman said.

The residents believe that the installation of street lights will put their minds at ease and will make their community safer.