Dear Editor,
It was as a Bookers Sugar Estates Cadet in 1958, assigned to Bookers Industrial Holdings Ltd, that I was directed to review a register of their land sales in an area outside of Georgetown, since called Prashad Nagar. The transaction was between a pioneering Mr. Prashad who was planning to develop Nagar – a housing community consisting of lots, respectively for lower, middle and upper income purchasers. One does not recall the total acreage involved, but was however intrigued that payments were made based on the rate of sales of each lot, separated at the time of review by dirt roads. I left that assignment and moved on to the next company which, interestingly, operated in the ‘interior’ named British Guiana Balata Company.
All the foregoing is irrelevant, but for the fact that when the census-taker visited recently the latter remarked that there was no sign indicating the name of the street in which I (and neighbours) resided. The observation incited my recalling experiences of taxi drivers having difficulty locating my invited address. To others, the direction given was usually to turn from Sheriff Street at the corner of the Campbellville Primary School – called First Street, having to bypass the Campbellville Post Office, and keep searching on the left – towards the Mosque on Eastern Highway. This is an example of the historical fact that though a long established section of the Capital City (before Sophia) none of Prashad Nagar Streets bear their names, heavily and noisily trafficked as they are.
Not even the Guyana Police Force seem to know to direct enquirers to the name of the street where their outpost is located. Nor can this resident, who incidentally had to send photos to GPL so that a maintenance crew could find the right location, even though their large Sophia operation is geographically immediately east of Prashad Nagar. The census-taker agreed that as taxpayers in ONE CITY we are equally entitled to have our streets identified. Just ask the management of the General Post Office Corporation, moreso the Mayor and City Council. The dis-arrangement takes no account of Emergencies. This is the progress made between 1958 and 2022.
Sincerely,
E.B. John
Resident
