RDC to consult with persons occupying deteriorated Charity Wharf

Jan 13, 2018 News

The Region Two Democratic Council is expected to consult soon with persons occupying the Charity wharf, in Region Two. Rapid sinking of the structure continues to pose a threat to the safety of all its users.
It was reported that many continue to occupy the Charity Marketing Centre, even as the structure remains on the verge of crumbling into the Pomeroon River.
The wharf which is located in Charity, Pomeroon, has been very beneficial to business and farmers, since it is located at one of the Region’s port of entries.
As many good things must come to an end, this 37-year-old landmark is now not far from crumbling into the Pomeroon River.
At this point, safety is the top priority of the respective authorities.
Region Two Chairman, Devenand Ramdatt, believes that little is being done in terms of safety and remedial works to the wharf. To date, there has been no indication suggesting that notices were served to persons occupying the wharf.
Mr. Ramdatt in an interview with Kaieteur News, yesterday, said that much more needs to be done apart from serving just a notice.
The Regional Chairman underlined the fact that adequate consultation must be done in the interest of the people in Region Two. He noted that persons, especially the NDC, will be consulted so as to determine an alternative space for vending, bearing in mind that safety is of top priority.
Ramdatt added, “I would not support the idea of just posting a notice, telling persons they can no longer use the facility for vending. Within the shortest possible time, we would be having a meeting with the occupants of the Charity Marketing Centre, hopefully by Monday a meeting can be convened with the NDC.
We are also hoping to convene a meeting soon with those persons occupying the wharf. We can then explain to them what the issues are, and from there we can both deliberate on the way forward. Based on technical advice however, the level of deterioration is posing a danger to those using the said area.”
In the meantime, the issue has been communicated to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, who is expected to undertake the project. One local engineer, who is attached to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, recently presented a report to the Regional Democratic Council.
The report stated in part, “It was observed that the Marketing Centre is said to be in a very critical state, due to the fact that the pillars of the Centre- which are of green heart materials, are rotten and are in a deplorable state.
“The main reason why they are in that condition is due to the age of the wharf, which is about 37 years old according to residents. It was also observed that the cracks on the building are indicating that the centre is leaning towards the river.”
The report highlighted another issue which is of great threat to the safety of persons occupying the Wharf. The report went on to say, “There are a lot of heavy-duty vehicles which are using the said Wharf, to load and offload their produce. This as a result, has caused the rotten pile heads to further crumble.
“Part of the northern section of the center has dropped about six inches. After observing the problem, the overseer was told to erect a notice prohibiting vehicles from traversing the wharf.”
Reports filtered to this publication by multiple sources, indicated that trucks would secretly utilise the wharf in the nights. The Regional Chairman, after being made aware of the practice just yesterday, said that efforts would be made to have the issue addressed. [Romario Blair]

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