Latest update June 3rd, 2026 12:40 AM
Govt. needs to be proactive in planning the layout of communities
Dear Editor,
I am neither a Civil Engineer nor an urban/suburban planner. I am simply an average citizen with a little bit of common sense.
My issue is with the allocation of government land for house lots. Repeatedly, I have seen where the government is reactive rather than proactive in planning the layout of these communities. It appears that absolutely no feasibility study is undertaken to determine the effect the community will have on the immediate environment and vice versa.
For example, “Skull City”, located at Little Diamond, East Bank, Demerara, has no real streets, only alleyways. There is no access into or out of the development by motorized vehicles.
Some occupants even had to uproot their lives, family and property and relocate, because the government decided where the streets will be, decades after these families erected their structures and planted their roots.
The new housing scheme at Diamond is another blatant example of lack of foresight on behalf of the government.
Years after the streets were laid out and residents moved in, the government realised that there were no schools, police station or water supply facility. The one access road had one lane in each direction, no parapets for pedestrians, limited lighting at night and hundreds of cows blocking access to traffic day and night.
The junction, where the access meets the main road, was a daily nightmare for commuters until the government decided last year to create a second road at the other end of the scheme.
Here is what my common sense tells me should have been done.
The streets should have been laid out on a grid. Infrastructure (such as electricity and telephone poles, drainage and irrigation, water pipes etc.), laid out along the streets. Main and tertiary roads should have been laid out, two lanes in either direction, with pedestrian parapets on either side. A central area should have been reserved for the following: a community ground and community centre (with a running/jogging/cycling track, cricket pitch, pavilion, clubhouse, volleyball/tennis/basketball court), police station, fire station, army outpost, government offices, hospital or clinic, library, various religious edifices, a cemetery, a primary school, a secondary school, a shopping plaza, an open market, a supermarket, a bank, a gas station, a post office, a parking lot, etc.
This, to me, would have the following benefits. (1) It would encourage residents to utilize the facilities and amenities within their own communities, reducing the need to travel long distances. (2) The result would be reduced traffic and its associated repercussions, such as congestion, accidents, repair cost, insurance cost, injury, loss of limb or life, etc. (3) This would also result in the additional benefit of having a quicker response time by the police, fire and ambulance services should it become necessary. (4) This would no doubt save lives and reduce crime. (5) More people would be encouraged to use the facilities of the community centre, library and community ground. (6) This would reduce idling/loitering and result in a more vibrant/active productive community.
Zaman Ali Ibrahim
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