Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, today, charged the residents of Alexander Village to take personal responsibility for the condition of their surroundings even as he returned to the village on a walkabout to observe progress being made on works to reduce the incidence of flooding in the community, after residents had pleaded with him during his last visit to have the matter resolved.
Under the current programme of work to be completed, the main canal located at First Street Alexander Village and Hunter Street is being cleared.
The clean-up effort, which is expected to be completed by Thursday, also targets the main drainage outlets from First to Fourth Streets and is being done in collaboration with the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), the Ministry of the Presidency (MOTP) and the Guyana Tractor and Equipment (GuyTrac), a company, which operates in the area.
The Minister has also pledged a quantity of tools to the community to spearhead their own clean-up efforts whenever the need arises.
During a visit to the community on January 29, 2018 the residents voiced concerns about drainage in the area with one of the residents even dropping on his knees to beg for assistance.
At that time, Minister Harmon made a commitment to get the assistance of the M&CC and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure to have an official assessment of the village in order to properly rectify the problem.
During the walkabout today, Minister Harmon told residents that while central Government, the private sector, the CDC and the M&CC have undertaken this collaborative effort, it is now their responsibility to become the gatekeepers to ensure that drainage infrastructure and the environment are protected.
