Dear Editor
From the residents of D’Aguiars Park, we wish you good health and strength as we face the challenges of the global pandemic as well as the current political impasse. As the head of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), we are confident that with your guidance and leadership the force will grow from strength to strength.
We are residents of the very peaceful residential area called D’Aguiars Park. An area where property values carry a premium price being a gated community etc. Many of us have been there from the inception and have never considered any other area as our home. Of recent we have been suffering tremendously from noise, dust, among other polluting elements emanating from the John Fernandes Container Terminal and now extended, chemical storage.

The volume of dust particularly during the dry season has become virtually unbearable, we can just complete wiping our countertops and within minutes you can feel and hear the sounds of dust when an object is placed on it. One can only image the health impact this has and more so if one is asthmatic or has other respiratory illnesses. Many of these containers stored there are a threat to the community, some of which contains hazmat and other dangerous goods which, many times, are handled very poorly. You can hear the banging of one container against the other during stacking/moving process. Complete disregard to the contents as well as the surrounding environment and community. The impact on the environment is compounded by the fact that these units move from the port (traffic congestions, environmental impact, etc.) to the container yard, from the container yard to the consignee, from consignee to the container yard and then from the container yard to the port for re-export, the impact of the multiplier effect. Not to mention damage to the infrastructure which as taxpayers have to contribute to. It is time that the City Council impose penalties for transshipment of containers for secondary storage due to the impact on the city roadways or suspend such transfers until immediate measures are implemented to address the concerns outlined.

The level of noise these trucks make when transporting these units is becoming increasingly unbearable; the driver operates these haulers with total disregard to equipment, contents, environment, lives, communities etc. At times one will believe that they are racing or they may have specific number of trips that they would have to make per day. It is worth mentioning that they will work until around midnight or some days 24 hours. Many trucks/trailers have no working lights; one wonders how they are given vehicle fitness to operate. Many times you will see the drivers ‘jumping’ the red lights, or stopped in the intersection etc. with police officers nearby doing nothing. The speed limits of these haulers/trucks are never complied with, despite the police on the roadways carrying out speeding checks etc.

Over the holidays, we have seen the level of congestion our city of Georgetown was exposed to, mostly contributed by these transfer of containers from the port to secondary storage (container terminal). With the influx of vehicles (due to the strong economicc conditions) on our already limited roadways, doing nothing will see a worsen situation. Imagine one of these dangerous goods unit/container was to overturn, leaked, caught fire, etc will see lives at risk, damage to the environment, etc. One can make reference to the recent incident at GNIC port, accidents as well as lives lost.

Mr. Commissioner of recent there has been extension to the storage area which is being used to store radioactive piles which is of grave concern to the community and residents. The noise level is so intense that many days it is unbearable, despite the engagement with the owners, noting has been done to mitigate the impact.
In our community we have CEO’s, senior executives, doctors, judge, ambassador, etc. whom are all looking for your support in addressing our concern of noise nuisance among other challenges. We thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to look into our concerns. We are very optimistic that your approach will be amicable to the concerns we have raised.

Regards
Residents of D’Aguiars Park