THIS week, we saw the attempts by the opposition People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity (PNC-APNU) to hinder and eventually stop the progress and development of not only the community of Plaisance but the entire East Coast Corridor and by extension our country.
We saw the notices issued by the Ministry of Public Works to vendors to remove from the government reserves and virtually out of the way of the four-lane highway on the ‘Line-Top’ or embankment.
The PNC-APNU opposition saw an opportunity to insert itself in between the government and citizens by sowing the very dangerous seeds of discord, confusion, political worry and disinformation about the perceived intention of the government and the project. When they became aware that the Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and other ministers were enroute to the community, the die-hard PNC-APNU activists started riling up the residents with the normal banter about race and discrimination.

When they were not getting the type of response they expected, they then started to go from door to door with the aim, no doubt, to spread lies and deception about the government and project.
After all, Industry-Plaisance NDC is now split down the middle with the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) benefitting from the popular vote. Also, Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, lives in the village and it would be an embarrassment if the VP was allowed to have a good meeting with the residents and vendors of Plaisance without the ruckus, resistance, protest and misguided pageantry we have come to expect. So said and so done, but this did not hinder the VP from speaking and listening to the residents.

In fact, he upbraided the ministers for the timeline they gave the vendors to move (seven days), and criticised the manner in which it was done. The ministers apparently did not meet with the vendors or community and failed to have consultations on the ground as advised by President Mohamed Irfaan Ali in cases like these.
Firstly, the President, VP and the government are concerned with the vendors’ well-being and livelihoods. It is clear too that the ministers handled the matter poorly, and were reprimanded publicly and have since done the right thing by meeting with the residents, and vendors and exploring the various limited locations to accommodate them for the sake of plying their trade.

Also, the utility companies and residents are now making alternative arrangements for the process of moving where they need to. Following Jagdeo’s intervention, there is now a clearer picture of what exactly is to be done for this project to move along. There is no more room for political mischief and whisper campaigns by the PNC-APNU and community activists.
Secondly, Plaisance is important but there are other villages with equal importance and stature that will benefit from the four-lane highway being installed along the embankment. Development cannot be stopped by the PNC-APNU and their activists alone and must be allowed to take place in the entire East Coast Demerara.

Stopping or attempting to stop development is a dangerous and disingenuous task that will only be undertaken by the opposition politicians. By their very worrisome and obstructive behaviour to development, they are putting the whole East Coast Demerara in jeopardy and trying to stop change from occurring. This is symptomatic of the opposition PR machinery and Norton’s tenure at the helm of opposition politics. They refuse to read, research and analyse the project. They don’t know the facts but they twist narratives and truths about this and so many other projects.

Listening to the speech of the former and embattled NDC chairman, one would see ignorance, political foolishness and a dependency syndrome on his political bosses for information. It was horrible to see him trying to play a big politician when he knows that in this day and age, information could be accessed easily and all the underhand dealings and ventures the NDC undertook before local government elections would be known. For one, questions still linger about the large acres of land that was siphoned off to PNC and APNU businesses and friends at Plaisance.
Nevertheless, from all indications, the residents and vendors of Plaisance will do what is in their best interest for development and progress to continue along the embankment and they are prepared to reap the benefits of this project.

Thirdly, the changing nature of politics and development is taking place right before the naked eyes. The opposition would take credit for Plaisance when things are about to go good and government policies are working for all the people regardless of their race or political affiliation.
When the people of Plaisance suffer, they suffer alone until the central government intervenes and the PNC-APNU is missing in action.
For a long time, Norton and others in the community were silent when the development shift of the APNU, during the Granger’s presidency, went to South Georgetown and other areas and neglected Plaisance and other strongholds along the East Coast Demerara.

They said nothing about the community and other things because they were scared of their political bosses during that time. They were little men, feeble and inferior politicians then, but morphed into paragons of virtue now, scouting about the village, and East Coast to score cheap political points.
Finally, the PNC-APNU is doing a major disservice to its supporters when they put on these shenanigans and seek to place the vendors and hardworking people of Plaisance at the centre of their political battle, instead of working through the local and central government to have their issues addressed. This confrontational approach and systemic slander will not hold off progress and development.

Changing the narrative of development when it suits the opposition’s agenda will not work when there is blatant thievery and skulduggery taking place with the people’s land and money in the former NDC system.
The people of Plaisance deserve this four-lane road as much as every village that will benefit from the project. It will ease the traffic congestion coming into Georgetown and will be pleasant on the eyes. Plaisance is not going to ever be the same, aesthetically speaking. The property values and prices will go up and people’s livelihoods would change for the better.
For the greater national good, development and progress to continue, support this project now!