A development plan is urgently needed to rescue Matarkai

Feb 14, 2010 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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NEGLECT AND DISCRIMINATION

The overall neglect and discrimination of their communities by the PPP/C Administration were the major complaints of the residents of Matthew’s Ridge, Arakaka and Port Kaituma during a recent visit by the PNCR Party and Parliamentary team, led by PNCR and Opposition Leader, Mr. Robert H. O. Corbin, to the Matarkai sub-Region of Region One.

The major complaints came from the small miners who expressed grave concern for their continued existence in the context of the Government’s proposed new mining regulations.

Their anger over the failure of the Administration to consult or even inform them of the issues affecting their livelihood and the development of their communities are quite understandable, since the existence of most of these communities is very dependent on the activities of small miners.

As they correctly concluded, the manner in which they were completely ignored in the mining sector and particularly, not consulted on the LCDS, was typical of the treatment that they have received from the PPP administration for several years resulting in the poor state of health, transport, education and other services to their communities.

MATTHEWS RIDGE

For example, at Matthews Ridge :

· the roads, particularly those main access routes to Heaven Hill and Hell Hill, are in a deplorable situation;

· there is an absence of any senior Health personnel at the Hospital apart from the Lone dispenser;

· the “so-called” mortuary is an empty shed with a dilapidated door and residents claim that the dead left there are occasionally mutilated by wild animals;

· the primary school is not only short staffed, but most of the teachers remain untrained and this is a cause of grave dissatisfaction to parents;

THE 2006 ELECTION HOAX

A central electricity service, which was there in the past is now non-existent with residents having to depend on their own individual generators.

Residents took the PNCR team to visit the generator promised by President Jagdeo prior to the 2006 Elections. The generator, which was sent to the area, has been there for three years and has never been started.

The arrival of the new generator created high expectations but the residents were later informed that for it to be functional there is further need for three transformers, which, after three years, are yet to arrive.

They have now concluded, however, that the entire electricity episode was a PPP election hoax, intended to deceive them at the last General Elections.

It has become pellucid to them that the new generator, now housed in a well-protected building at the top of Heaven Hill, will remain a monument to the deception of the PPP and President Jagdeo.

The telephone service at Matthews Ridge amounts to a single GT&T public phone booth located in the Hospital Compound but which can only receive calls. Consequently, residents are forced to rely on an expensive private internet satellite telephone service from a service provider in the USA.

Calls from Matthews Ridge to Georgetown are therefore long distance calls from the USA.

ARAKAKA

At Arakaka, many of the complaints were similar to those at Matthews Ridge:

· Transportation for children to attend school is major concern: Children from as far as the Six-mile Area have to walk over eight miles on a desolate road to the school at Arakaka unless they receive an occasional ride from a passing vehicle.

· The cost of living is unbearable with the prices of flour being $100 per pound, rice $480 per gallon, milk $500 per pound, sugar $80 per pound, to name a few.

The absence of an agent from the GGMC has also placed the small miners at a disadvantage, as they have no alternative than to sell their gold to the few authorized buyers who are also the owners of shops.

· Despite the spanking new impressive building named Arakaka Medical Centre, there is no electricity and the availability of water at this centre is a regular challenge. The health centre is also in need of medical and communication equipment.

The highest-ranking health personnel is a Community Health Worker and the facility closes at 4:00 pm weekdays.

There are no weekend services for sick patients and in the case of emergencies, sick persons are forced to pay the transportation cost of $3,000 to receive treatment at Port Kaituma, in some situations as high as $15,000 for private transportation from business people.

The absence of any form of communication in the area, apart for the police radio set, makes any response to a medical or other emergency almost impossible.

This situation is compounded by the fact that the police have no transportation to take them anywhere when they are called on emergencies or in the performance of their normal duties.

PORT KAITUMA

Residents of Port Kaituma are deeply disturbed over the blatant acts of discrimination in the allocation of lands in the area by the Regional Administration. In addition,

· The water supply system is a serious health hazard: in the absence of a water treatment facility, water is pumped directly into the distribution pipes from the Kaituma River, which is contaminated with sewage and garbage.

· The roads are also in a state of total disrepair and while resident road users are required to pay a toll, serious concerns were raised about the non- payment of the road toll by the Jailing Chinese Lumber Company that is a major contributor to the deteriorated state of the road.

· Residents are also deeply concerned that this Company has not employed a single Guyanese at Port Kaituma and that their entire work force of over seventy persons are from overseas. Efforts by the NDC to obtain information from the Prime Minister’s Office about the Agreement between this Company and the Government of Guyana have so far been fruitless. Government needs to provide information about the conditions under which these foreign companies are permitted to operate in Guyana.

INTERDISCIPLINARY PLANNING TEAM

These once booming communities are now threatened with extinction since the 2010 Budget, in spite of it being, “the biggest ever”, makes absolutely no provision to address these problems.

It is evident that there is need for a development plan for the sub-region, without which the few ad-hoc interventions by Government would be meaningless.

The PPP Administration needs to urgently identify and appoint an interdisciplinary planning team to draft a new development plan for the Matarkai sub-region of Region One, which would take account of its potential in agriculture, particularly livestock, forestry, mining and tourism.

Such an approach would lift the present gloom and the despair of the citizens in that sub region.

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