Regional Executive Officer (REO) in Region Four Shafdar Ali says that he has issued a cease-order on all works for the filling of the trench along the northern side of the Railway Embankment obliquely opposite the NDC building at Plaisance.

The partly-filled trench at Plaisance.

Ali said that permission should never have been given to fill a major drainage trench and the NDC should never have allowed it to happen. His statement came after several reports in Stabroek News raising concerns about how permission was granted and airing complaints by residents.

When contacted on Thursday afternoon, Chair-man of the Plaisance Neighbourhood Democratic Council, Clinton Rellox said that he was not aware of such an order.

He had insisted to Stabroek News earlier in the week that permission to the Vryheid’s Lust man to fill the trench allegedly to build a wash bay did not come from his office, but from a “higher authority”.

He said that the NDC was bypassed in the decision to give the individual permission to fill the trench.

When Stabroek News re-visited the area on Thursday residents said that no sand had been dumped into the trench for over a week now, but they are not aware of the status of the work.

Ali also told this newspaper that according to information reaching him the man had been given permission by the chairman before Rellox, who died sometime around the 2005 floods, but he is yet to see the relevant document. When told of this Rellox said that he had no knowledge or records of that.

He also said that he was the deputy chairman at that time and would have been aware if any such decision was taken.

Ali has also said that only the NDC could have given permission to the man and even if they had not given permission they should have prevented this from happening. When this was put to Rellox he said that the area where the trench is located is considered government reserve and so the Ministry of Public Works or the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) could have the final say on any issue concerning the area.

When the Public Works Ministry was contacted, this newspaper was told that the individual who would be able to comment on the matter was out of town and wouldn’t be returning until yesterday. Several calls to the CHPA have not been met with any success.

And repeated efforts to get a comment from Regional Chairman Clement Corlette on the matter have been futile.

Stabroek News also spoke to a shopkeeper opposite to the trench. Kurt Bunbury said that virtually the entire neighbourhood is in protest over the man’s activities, which has ceased in his opinion after an article was published by Stabroek News on the issue.

Bunbury said the fact that the man was allowed not only to start but continue with his activities was a shock to him. He explained that when he had purchased his shop building in the latter part of last year, he had gone about building a concrete bridge in front of the shop.

The water in the trench was high and in order to build the foundation for the bridge he had placed sand bags to block off one side of the trench and ‘bailed’ water from one part into the other.

“The Region Four chairman come here and said that I blocking water from the back streets from flowing and threaten to break up all I doing, now this man filling a big trench and nobody ain’t say nothing,” Bunbury said.

Stabroek News also visited the Vryheid’s Lust residence of the man who is responsible for filling-in the trench but no one was at home to speak to this newspaper.