By Michel Outridge 

THE team also met Shameer Mohamed, who resides close to the Sideline Dam at the Blairmont koker. Mohammed was on his way home from Rosignol, where his wife has a small business.

He told the Pepperpot Magazine that he has been living in Blairmont for the past 25 years and it was through marriage that he came to the community and started a family.

Mohamed added that his wife is from the community and she has a store at Rosignol and he would assist in managing that small business.

The father of one related that the people of Blairmont are hardworking folk, most of whom do hard labour at the nearby estate.

The Pepperpot Magazine spoke to Kenroy James, who is the Team Leader for the Blairmont Community Enhancement Workers.

At the time he was at the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (RDC) building, where he was tasked with handing over cheques to workers.

James said the project has 18 workers, who are divided into three sections, such as Blairmont, Shieldstown and Ithaca, where they are responsible for clearing and cleaning drainage and irrigation.

He stated the project has been in progress for the past 14 years and they would get an annual grant to pay workers.

“This is a new experience for me because I haven’t done this type of job before, so I get to interact with a lot of people, assist people, as well as I am learning at the same time,” he said.

James related that it is always good to keep one’s community clean and he is pleased to be a part of the Community Enhancement Project.

The team interacted with Indal Persaud, who was just about to go to work at the estate, but took a few minutes off to have a chat.

The 53-year-old stated that things are not always easy for him because when the crop is out every 13 to 14 weeks, he has to look for alternative ways to source an income.

He explained that the estate would operate based on its crops, so it would operate for 19 to 20 weeks then it goes into ‘out-of-crop’ season and he would only get four days of work.

Persaud added that he is on a shift system, that is, he works the 14:00hrs- 23:00hrs shift and is attached to the Mill Dock.

He is tasked with loading the cane from punts to the factory and it is hard manual labour.

The father of five told the Pepperpot Magazine that the estate had not been operating for the past six weeks and they recently re-started; as such, he is happy because he depends on his salary to provide for his family.

He pointed out that Blairmont is one of the three surviving estates. The others are Albion and Uitvlugt.