KENRICK Wickham, better known as “Fabulous,” is a resident of Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara, who is doing his utmost to create a safe space for locals in the community.

He has a recreational park at the “backdam” section of the village, which he used his own money to create and he has maintained the area since its establishment.

Wickham told the Pepperpot Magazine that he wanted to create a safe space for the locals and five years ago, he spruced up the “backdam” area by cleaning it and then sand-filled it.

Wickham also constructed wooden benches, a swinger, chairs and tables, erected a shed and tent and a small shop selling cold beverages, chicken, and fish and chips mostly on weekends.

It is a place where you can relax, swim, play games, or simply unwind after a long week of work.

The canal is right there and filled with black water, cool and inviting for a quick dip or leisure swimming.

“I am not getting the support as I should due to the bad state of the road. People don’t want to come with their vehicles, so I only do cutters and cold beverages on weekends for the few people that would visit the location,” he said.

Apart from being a small-business owner, Wickham is a poultry farmer and he is rearing 600 meat birds in the “backdam” where he has a pen, but plans to expand with another chicken pen if the road is fixed.

Wickham related that the Haslington/Grove Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) is doing its best with the resources at hand to upkeep the drainage network in the village, but the community is low-lying; as such, it is prone to flooding.

He pointed out that Nabaclis Village is fairly large with five cross streets and six internal streets running from north to south, all mud dams with no paved roads in this community.

Wickham added that he is the Chairman of the Water Users Association of Nabaclis and it covers the area from Wire Gate to Crown Dam for 120 farmers.

He related that flooding, the road, access to the farmlands and other challenges caused a lot of farmers to leave the village and most of the cash crops don’t survive floodwaters, so most times farmers operate at a loss more than gain.

Wickham used to be a farmer too but had to quit, having lost more than 2,500 pepper plants, 1000 watermelon plants and a lot of cash crops. As such, he could no longer cultivate any crops.

He added that the village also needs some street lights and there is need for a drainage pump to be re-installed in the village.

Wickham reported that many years ago they had a drainage pump, but it was removed and not replaced and since it is a farming village, their needs should be assessed.