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A worrying case at Friendship
Dear Editor,
For the past three years I have been struggling to have a nearby sawmill that is located on the Public Road at Friendship, on the Eastern Bank of the Demerara River to lower the level of noise, and to put proper drainage at the facility. To date, nothing has been done.
I must say that I am grateful to Mr. Derek Kowlessar of the Ministry of Community, and lately Mr. Glenn Lall of Kaieteur News for responding to my complaints. Derek has done much more, such as leaving his office and paying the facility a visit, but there is not much he could do because the enforcement of the by-laws and regulations lies with the Craig-Caledonia NDC, and the folks at the EPA.
The EPA has made several spot checks, but their meters have shown that the noise is not beyond the legal limit. For example, they say that the noise can be high for 2 hours, but low for 6 hours…. then they would do an average, and come up with a low average for an eight-hour day.
God forbids, but it seems that I have to leave my house for the two-hour period. Does this make any sense at all? My ear drum does not have any mechanism to average noise level. The other issue is that the sawmiller would lower the noise or turn it off when the EPA shows up, but when they leave, he would continue with the noise.
I would not mention anything about the water. That is another serious problem I face. I have sent many images to various people in authority, showing the mess that is created in my yard when it rains.
The sawmill man has the unrelenting support of the Chairman of the Craig-Caledonia NDC. The land that I am on was purchased by myself in 2014. Upon surveying the land, I discovered that the sawmill is on approximately 30 percent of the land, Rainforest Timbers is on another 20 percent, and I am on the remainder.
The Chairman has taken several steps to evict me, but I have managed to get a Court Order restraining the NDS from interfering with me pending the result of the Mediation Center. My main argument is that if three people are in occupation of a parcel of land, it is discrimination to take action against one and leave the other two.
The Chairman of the NDC is no angel either. I recently met a gentleman by the name of Rakesh Sawh of Orange Walk, Georgetown who claims that he bought a house at Craig at a Public Auction held by the Supreme Court, but the Chairman, while taking up possession of his property, has also instructed the NDC not to accept rates and taxes from him, Mr. Sawh.
There have been many illegal transactions at the Craig-Caledonia NDC over the years. Monies have disappeared from the Treasury, people have turned up in court with bogus rates and taxes receipts as they try to gain prescriptive title to other peoples’ property in the area.
I would like to bring to the attention of the Ministry of Social Securities the plight of many young, unskilled men who work at the sawmill without any sort of insurance, protective outfits, and so on. They work for wages far lower than the minimum wages, and no NIS deductions are being made.
They work in unsafe environments, as I have recently shown in an image of sections of the shed under which they work is collapsing. They have since straightened it , but if you look careful at the structure, you will see that it is very unsafe for men to work under.
The drain to the sawmill has been filled with dirt. People from the NDC and the EPA have crossed this drain many times. It is not an environmental issue, so it seems.
I hope that this issue can one day be resolved.
Rgds,
Fazal Gafoor
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