President Ali instructs contractor to return dirt sold to residents

Apr 01, 2021 News

During visit to Black Bush Polder…

By Malisa Playter Harry

President Ali speaking with the Police Commander, Jairam Ramlakhan, at the meeting.

Yakasari residents who came out to meet with the President.

President Ali and Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill, engaging contractor, Rafeek Kassim (extreme right), and the Supervisor of works (second from right).

President Ali, Agri. Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister of Public Works; Juan Edghill, and Vice Chairman, Zamal Hussain.

Kaieteur News – A contractor tasked with executing emergency works on the Yakasari stretch of road at Black Bush Polder (BBP), Berbice was yesterday put in the hot seat when President Irfaan Ali paid a visit to the area yesterday. The President had a brief meeting with residents of Yakasari during which time they got the opportunity to raise burning issues that have been affecting them for some time.Taking advantage of the moment, Bibi Faroozadeen, a councillor from the BBP Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), revealed that the contractor of the road works at Yakasari was in fact selling the dirt removed from the road.
The councillor informed that the dirt was being sold to the tune of some $3,000 per load to random persons who expressed interest in acquiring same.”I saw something that they are doing and that is not right. I am the councillor for the area and I think this is bad. They fixing the road and the materials and the foundation that they dig out from the road, they put it in the corner and the next thing, I was making an arrangement with the NDC that we gonna take that stuff and fix potholes in the streets but what they did is sell it out,” the councillor complained.The contractor responsible for the ongoing works on the Yakasari road is Rafeek Kassim of R. Kassim Construction Service.The President, seemingly taken aback by the complaint, immediately instructed that the contractor be summoned to the meeting to explain himself. Upon the contractor’s arrival, the President informed him of the allegation levelled against him, adding, “Don’t lie to me; if you lie, you will make it worse.”
In response, the contractor informed the President that the majority of the dirt was set aside to build up the road shoulders. Not satisfied with this explanation, the President added, “if any materials sell; if you don’t tell me the truth now and we investigate and find the truth, you ‘gonna’ be in the problem.”
It was then that a Georgetown-based supervisor of the works was asked to conduct an investigation and submit a report of the findings. President Ali then went on to ask the residents present if they had purchased dirt. One man, who came forward, said he bought two loads of dirt from one of the road workers at $2000 per load.

A Yakasari resident raising an issue.

President Ali then turned his attention to the contractor and asked, “bossman you lying to me?” The contractor responded in the negative and went on to theorise that it might have been the handiwork of his workers since he is not on site every day. His explanation, however, only made matters worse.
An infuriated President Ali asked, “So you are the contractor and you are not on the road? Where are you building the road from? Your house!” He then ordered the contractor to “go and find out which one (of the workers) sell it…you have to go and get back the dirt back.”
During his visit to BBP yesterday, the President was accompanied by Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister of Public Works, Hon. Juan Edghill, and regional officials including: David Armogan, Narindra Persaud and Zamal Hussain.
President Ali stated that his visit was prompted by several comments made on his social media page requesting that he visit Yakasari to deal with some specific issues. He noted that he wanted to “come out here to listen to you; to listen to some of the issues which you have from the grassroots level and to see how we can resolve it.”
It was then the President gave the residents the opportunity to raise their individual issues.
A resident complained about the well at Yakasari, which has been broken for several months and has resulted in minimal water flow in the community. President Ali then made a telephone call to Shaik Baksh, the Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Water Inc., who explained to the President that the residents were told that the well collapsed and that there was an obstruction several feet below. He revealed that extraction works will start next week but in the meantime “we were able to get water running from Johanna to Yakasari and everybody agreed that they will get 8-10 hours every day rather than a continuous flow of water for 24 hours as they are accustomed to.” Baksh said that this will be done until the well becomes operational.
Other issues that were raised were related to proper drainage, construction of a bridge (which the army has been tasked to build by the President), youths engaging in illicit drugs and other private issues.