Plaisance residents vow to reclaim their community

Apr 15, 2013 News

Rehana Ashley Ahamad
The residents of Plaisance, East Coast Demerara are taking a new approach towards ensuring that they remain in control of their Community Centre Ground.
This “new” approach involves the resuscitation of the area’s Community Development Group, which was legally established on May 23, 2011, but was never actively involved in community development.
The group would now actively cater for areas such as Plaisance, Sparendaam, and Goedverwagting.
This comes weeks after the Government of Guyana decided to erect a transmission tower on the Plaisance Community Centre Ground, which was vehemently objected to, resulting in the temporary shelving of that plan.
During a specially arranged meeting yesterday, residents agreed that they should prove to the government and the country as a whole, that the people of Plaisance are serious about progress.
Education, Agriculture, Economics, Health, Culture/ Social, and Sports, are some of the major areas that the group plans to focus on and their main objective is to create a better community for future generations.
And in order to fulfill its mandate, the association outlined plans to seek assistance from the government in fulfilling certain aspects of the community’s enhancement.
They noted that as far as agriculture in the community goes, it is their plan to have residents become more active in farming. The government’s assistance in this regard would be needed for the community’s upgrade of the poor drainage system.
The residents said that the tower fiasco was an eye-opener to the fact that they, the people of Plaisance, needed to take back their community, and ensure that whatever goes on in the area is in their best interest.
They maintained that placing such a tower on their playfield will only cause grief to especially the youngsters of the community who utilise the facility on a daily basis.
The residents made it clear that despite their objection to the tower on their playfield, they have no problem with the e-governance programme.
“We have no problem with the e-governance programme. Our problem is that the tower can be put anywhere else in Plaisance. It doesn’t have to be the playfield that we positively utilise on a daily basis,” Member of Parliament, Aubrey Norton posited yesterday.
Presently, Plaisance is administered by an Interim Management Committee, which has replaced its Neighbourhood Democratic Council. This body is being seen as an illegal one which has been forced upon the community by the Ministry of Local Government.
Following three days of intense protest by villagers, there were indications that the e-governance transmission tower would have been sited elsewhere.
However, at a subsequent post Cabinet briefing, Dr. Roger Luncheon announced that the government has no intention of changing its mind. Nonetheless, Plaisance residents say that they will not allow this to happen, as the Plaisance Community Centre Ground has always been positively utilised by both the young and old, since the 1960s.
In addition to the sporting activities, the ground also facilitates family reunions and senior citizens’ meetings.
The proposed tower is being pushed for as part of the E-governance programme, one that will facilitate the linking of government’s fibre-optic cable that has been laid from Lethem to Linden, to the coastline, to enable internet access.
The construction of the tower is being done by a Chinese contracting firm named Huawei, in collaboration with local subcontractors, and the blessing of the government of Guyana.
It will be one of 54 towers that will be erected in densely populated areas along the coast. As of now, the materials that were left scattered on the playfield have since been removed, and persons continue to play on the ground, despite the fact that there is also a huge hole left from where the foundation was being laid a few feet away from the actual building.

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Plaisance residents vow to reclaim their community

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