Residents of East and West Ruimveldt have agreed to collaborate with the Mayor and City Council to clean the canals located in the areas, following a demolition attempt that sparked a confrontation on Thursday.
Yesterday, Deputy Mayor Robert Williams explained what led to the attempted demolition, saying that three months ago President Bharrat Jagdeo had visited residents in the area and they complained to him of drainage problems. Following the President’s visit, during which he promised to release funding for the cleaning of the drains, estimates were done up by the council and submitted to the Local Government Ministry who would have then submitted it to Cabinet for approval, Williams explained.
Residents had indicated to the President that the eight culverts located in the area were blocked. On Thursday, Williams said, “As Deputy Mayor I called the Town Clerk and Engineer and requested that we attend to the blockage. It turned out the canals are silted.”
“The engineer felt that it was necessary to demolish a few houses and proceeded to demolish one,” Williams added. He admitted that, “it is true that no notice was given” and he said the call to demolish was made by the Town Clerk. However, he added that following the outcry by residents, the demolition was called off. But, he added that “the equipment seen on the scene was intended to dig the canal not break houses.”
Williams said that yesterday morning council members and the mayor along with himself met with residents of the area who “that one the canal had to be de-silted; two, they will be consulted; three they will be pursue house lots with the Housing Ministry and four they will cooperate with the engineer on the works to be done and notify residents.
Heston Bostwick, a resident of the Ruimveldt area, confirmed that there was a meeting with residents and City Council. He also related a similar agreement to the ones stated by Williams. Further, he said that at a meeting with council members on Thursday after the debacle, “two committees were established…residents of West and East Ruimveldt will work along with Council in terms of getting people to cooperate.”
