Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 21, 2014 News
While it appears that little work is ongoing on the Cheddi Jagan International Airport runway extension project, significant mining activities in the Timehri North community have residents concerned over the destruction of their
environment and roads.
According to a report from the Community Development Council, several heavy duty trucks belonging to China Harbour Engineering Company (Guyana) Inc. have been traversing the area taking truckloads of sand from within the community and at the same time, destroying the already short stretch of road in the area.
The trucks are said to have no license plates while the operators claim to have permission from the government.
The Timehri North Community Development Council (TNCDC) explained that they were surprised last Tuesday that CHEC was mining sand from within the community, allegedly with the permission of the government through its relevant agencies.
They said that investigations disclosed that last Sunday a few Guyanese labourers, working with CHEC and using a bulldozer, began clearing the parapet that interlocks with the Main Access Road, in the Prison Service Area.
“At first, the few residents who noticed the heavy duty piece of equipment being driven along the Main Road were agitated at the fact that the roadway was being destroyed by the heavy equipment since no maintenance was ever done to the road by the government.”
As reports of the clearing began to spread, the executives of the TNCDC said that they were able to
ascertain that “the clearing was actually to allow for the 25,000kg trucks to pass alongside each other as sand was to be excavated from a site close to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Ammunition Dump. Sand was also being removed from the road that leads to the new area that is now being used for farming.
“It must be understood, that this site is due north, clearly and totally away from the vicinity of the runway expansion and into the community itself. The initial touting that the Chinese were building a road from Timehri North to the Timehri Base Road/ Timehri Public Road was a falsehood. This is what was fed to the curious residents who dared to ask about this new activity,” the Council said.
They explained that five heavily laden trucks bearing the markings of CHEC, presumably unlicensed and unregistered, (because they bore no number plates as is prescribed by the laws of Guyana) traverse the public roadways at speeds parallel with that of minibuses.
“On speaking to the Chinese official who seemed to be in charge of the operation, he quickly activated his Apple cell phone, hid it behind his back in his hand, and proceeded to answer questions.
The official stated that “your country has given us permission to remove all sand. No problem”.
When asked where the permission was, the official stated that it was in his office and that he will be replacing the sand with the pegasse soil (a type of tropical peat) excavated from the expansion site.
However, residents say they are more concerned about the health issues that would soon be upon the community as a result of the unearthing and transporting of the sand. The Council said, “Already, the dust issues are plaguing residents, as large and unusual build-up of dust can be seen on the furnishings and other household paraphernalia.”
“The expectancy of sand-associated and related irritants and illnesses such as silicosis, miner’s phthisis, grinder’s asthma, potter’s rot and other such illnesses can certainly have devastating effects on the lives of residents, especially those vulnerable ones like infants and children, those incapacitated and the aged, those asthmatics and who suffer with any form of lung infection.”
The residents said that there has been no public hearing or meeting for whatever applications the government may have given for this form of activity given the type of impact on the environment. The residents said they were neither informed nor warned about the new activities.
Last week, residents expressed further concerns about the huge sand pits that are being left within the community, some large enough to trap small children who could unfortunately fall in. “Our children play within these areas, we farm here and work here and this is not healthy,” one resident told the newspaper.
Farmers are also fearful that the sand mining activities will reach new farming areas since it was after an argument with farmers and the Chinese earlier in the week which lead to them ceasing clearing activities a few yards away from the farms. These farmers were removed from their initial farming area and claimed to have lost hundreds and thousands of dollars in revenue as a result of the destruction of their produce.
Another resident complained about the continued destruction of the roads by the Chinese workers. Despite the road being in a deplorable state for numerous years, residents claim that it was not as bad as the Chinese equipment now have it.
Heading towards the South Dakota race circuit, Chinese workers turn off the main road to head to a loam pit, but the road they use is now almost impassable, the man said. He said his car has on numerous occasions been stuck in the mud, until the Chinese company, on one occasion, had to pay for repairs to his vehicle and a complete wash since mud had gotten inside the car.
The loam and sand, the residents said, are being taken out of the community and not being used on the runway’s expansion. They said, in fact, work has hardly been done on the runway project.
One Chinese worker who spoke with Kaieteur News at the expansion site on Thursday said the site is “very soft.”
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