“I expect more from you” – Pres Ali to leaders living in Eccles

…as residents complain of drainage, road issues

President Dr Irfaan Ali on Monday visited the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) community of Eccles, to investigate complaints of improper drainage and irrigation, as well as the poor state of roads, and to have the relevant authorities look into these complaints and take corrective action.
During his visit to Eccles, the President was accompanied by a large contingent of State officials. The President met with residents, who raised several concerns to him, including the several blocked drains. One observation made by the President was that with the high-ranking officials living in Eccles, more should have been done.

“First of all, this is an area with a lot of national leaders. And I think they ought to pay more attention. And I know they are responsible leaders. When I expect more from you, I’ll tell you I expect more from you. Because I know the level of competence that exists.”
“I’m concerned especially with old Eccles. The drainage situation, I think is ridiculous, to say the least. We have to deal with it. We have to deal with the entire drainage situation here. The roads, well the roads are a consequence of the drains too. Because of the flooding and so on. So, the drains, the roads, seem to be a priority in the area. In the new Eccles, a lot of work has been done in cleaning the drains. But construction is still ongoing.”

It was noted by some of the residents that particular persons have been blocking drains and damaging roads and that complaints to the local authorities have gone unaddressed for years. The President directed the Head of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Lionel Woodsworth, as well as other officials, to look into these complaints.
Residents were meanwhile not spared, with the President noting that the residents themselves have a duty to be responsible. This is particular since in some instances, the clogged drains could be directly attributed to residents.

Irresponsible
“We have a lot of irresponsible residents themselves. Development, everybody has to be involved. Everybody has to take responsibility. You can’t be dumping old cars in the drain. You can’t be filling up reserves. You can’t be destroying reserves.”
“You can’t be building huge concrete bridges across the drain and filling up the drain. We’ll all suffer. Everyone will suffer at the end of the day. So, everybody has to take responsibility in this process. And I believe we’re getting there,” President Ali said.
The contingent of officials accompanying the President on his visit included Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir; Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat; Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, under whose purview NDIA falls, Minister within the Public Works Ministry Deodat Indar and Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy. (G3)