-but only if the lands are transferred to residents – Minister Indar

By Jared Liddell
ONE hundred and fifty households in Washington Scheme, located at Parika backdam, East Bank Essequibo, are slated to receive electricity by Christmas, while the main access road will also be repaired within three months, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, has promised.

But this will only be made possible if the lands are legally transferred in the names of the residents. The Guyana Chronicle understands that Washington Scheme is owned by a private citizen who decided to make his lands available to the residents, after they were removed from the seaside in 2005. The residents have not had access to water and electricity since.
There is said to be an agreement between the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), the residents and the private owner of the land to allow the citizens to reside there.
As such, Minister Indar, in providing clarification to this newspaper, said that he has asked the concerned parties to ensure that the agreement is legally binding before he moves ahead with introducing electricity and repairing the roads in the community.

According to Minister Indar, the owner of lands has not granted full authority to the residents. As such, Minister Indar made it clear, “we will not spend a cent of taxpayers’ money if he doesn’t transfer these lands into the names of the residents…we will not spend one cent in that area.”

The junior Public Works Minister said he was emphatically clear during a meeting with the Chairman, Vice Chairman, the Regional Executive Officer and the land owner that the agreement needs to be legal and the transfer needs to take place soon.

“I told him that I don’t want that if something is wrong with you and your estate is transferred to somebody else and they go and put out the people, and call all sorts of money for the land and put the people at a disadvantage…I want y’all to at least give the people ownership of the land or a document to say they own the land or they have rights to the land.
“How long that is not happening, I won’t do any work in this area. I made sure I told him that and he is to sit down with the regional team and come up with a solution to that,” Minister Indar told the Guyana Chronicle Sunday.

Minister Indar said he has also requested the assistance of the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission and the Ministry of Housing and Water to look into the interests of the residents.
During an outreach to the community on Sunday, Minister Indar reminded the residents of the government’s commitment to providing all citizens with a better quality of life; he said it is with this in mind that he decided to intervene and provide the residents with electricity.

“You have been without electricity since this scheme was established, and as a government we want to ensure that that is looked into and that all Guyanese have access to the basic resources such as water and light, so we have decided to undertake this initiative,” Minister Indar told the residents.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Region Three, Ishan Ayube, believes the initiative is both timely and important, noting that the community has been in existence for 15 years without access to electricity and running water.
He explained that the electricity is coming at an opportune time given the fact that schools are closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and classes are being done online.

RESIDENTS HAPPY
Following Minister Indar’s promise, many residents expressed relief and gratitude.
“I glad cause I get my granddaughter that lives here with me, she’s now going into Form One and she [will] need the internet to get class and to get information for assignments and so,” said Noreen Aziman.

Another resident, Michael Calvan, said, “I’m glad they came in here today. I’ve been watching the things the government has been doing and I see they’re keeping the promises they’re making to the residents so I’m glad because I know now that we would actually get the electricity and get the road fixed.”

Calvan has three children and another one on the way; he and his family has been living in the community for some three years.
Another resident of the area, Jessie Poole, lauded the initiative.

“I know everybody will appreciate it. We all like living here but in the rainy season it’s hard; sometimes the road is so bad I have to lift both of my children and bring them out because I don’t want them to have to walk through all that water and mud. So I would really appreciate it when the roads are done,” said Poole.