Latest update November 22nd, 2024 1:00 AM
Latest News
- Exxon wants new oil block on own terms
- Indian companies eye Guyana’s oil
- ICC issues arrest warrant for Israeli PM Netanyahu for ‘war crimes’ in Gaza
- Developing countries should not be curtailed in exploiting natural resources- PM Modi tells Parliament
- Jagdeo was sold expired soft drink at Marriott Hotel
Vandals destroy road signs civic-minded retiree paid to erect in his community
In a country where drains are often clogged, and garbage strewn carelessly near marketplaces, one would think that a citizen’s efforts to beautify his community would be lauded.
Civic minded retiree: Mr. Aubrey Alexander
But that’s not the case in North East La Penitence, where someone has been vandalizing road signs that one resident, Mr. Aubrey Alexander, has gone to pains to erect.
Long before calls for a “green environment” were being made, Mr. Alexander, a former Deputy Director of Civil Aviation, and long-standing resident of North East La Penitence, has been making efforts to beautify his community.
One of the things that this civic-minded retiree observed was an absence of road signs in his sub-division.
About a year ago, and using his own financial resources, he erected two beautiful road signs at Kiskadee Street and Toucan Drive, North East La Penitence.
Those signs each cost $10,000.
“They were the most attractive street signs one could see in Georgetown,” the retiree said. “You would see signs like this in America.”
Six months ago, vandals began to ‘attack’ the signs.
First, Mr. Alexander observed that the metal pole to which the Kiskadee Street sign was attached was bent. Shortly after, someone smashed the sign to pieces.
They also did minor damage to the other sign at Toucan Drive.
“What kind of people would not want street signs in their community?” a disappointed Aubrey Alexander queried. “Why would they not want their street to be named? I have my idea (about the identity of the vandals) but I’m not pointing any fingers.”
Nevertheless, Mr. Alexander says that he will not be deterred in his efforts to enhance his surroundings.
Prior to this, for security purposes, he hired an electrical company to install two street lights at both ends of Kiskadee Street. Installation of one at the lights cost $60,000 (another resident contributed $5,000). He paid another $10,000 to have the other (which has a photo cell sensor) Installed.
Some six years ago, he also hired persons to clean the alleyway behind his house.
Vandalized: The sign at Kiskadee Street
He also once had a brief tiff with former President Bharrat Jagdeo over the state of the roads in the community he had residend in since 1972.
“The street was so bad that people were walking on the parapet in front of my house,” he recalled.
President Jagdeo was having a ‘walk-about’ in North East La Penitence. Mr. Alexander approached the head-of state about the deplorable condition of Kiskadee Street and Toucan Drive.
“I told Jagdeo that I had paid my dues (to the country) as a former Director of Civil Aviation and demanded that the roads be fixed.”
Then, shortly after, Mr. Alexander encountered President Jagdeo at another venue . He again raised the issue about the deplorable roads in North East La Penitence.
According to Mr. Alexander, Jagdeo “raised his hands and told me to ask (Mayor) Hamilton Green.”
Mr. Alexander immediately dispatched a letter to the Office of the President, chiding the younger man for his “terse” response.
“A week after, his secretary told me that that he (Jagdeo) had forwarded my letter to (Minister of Public Works) Robeson Benn.”
Minister Benn not only had Kiskadee Street and Toucan Drive fixed, but, at Mr. Alexander’s insistence, put in speed bumps as well.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
A false panacea for electoral integrity
…Peeping Tom kaieteur News – Advocates for fingerprint verification in Guyana’s elections herald it as... more
Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – There is an alarming surge in gun-related violence, particularly among younger... more
Weekend Cartoon
