“Put back the tower in Pradoville”- Plaisance residents tell Edghill

Leave the playground for our children – Plaisance residents tell Edghill

By Abena Rockcliffe

Angry outbursts, loud singing and attempts to “negotiate” characterized the state of affairs yesterday at the Plaisance Community Centre where Junior Finance Minister Bishop Juan Edghill attempted to keep a meeting.
About 300 residents both young and old turned out with their placards to meet with the Minister.  However, from all indications, the residents only wanted to hear that the tower would not be placed on their ground, and since that wasn’t the announcement, not much productivity came out of the meeting and it was soon aborted.
Last week, there were indications that the E-Governance transmission tower, would have been sited somewhere else. But at the last post Cabinet briefing, Dr. Roger Luncheon announced that the government has no intention to change its mind.
Initially when Edghill tried to conduct his meeting, he was persistently interrupted by residents that were adamant that the tower “isn’t going here.”  They made clear their support towards the E-Governance project but stood firm in the position that the tower must be placed somewhere else.
Several said that the tower should be erected in “Pradoville where it was before.”
It was announced yesterday that a letter was sent to the Region Four Regional Chairman’s office earlier this year. But immediately after that announcement, the Regional Chairman Clement Charlotte stood and informed the gathering that he only received the letter on Saturday last.
When the gathering initially became noisy Edghill stood and said that “If we keep doing the same thing and expect different results, that means we are crazy”.
At that instant, Aubrey Norton was successful in his attempt to control the crowd. But then the Bishop told the gathering that he respects his fellow countrymen. So again the crowd erupted, this time asking him if he was there in his capacity of a government official  or as a Plaisance resident; to which he responded that he was there as a Cabinet member, the Minister in charge of projects around the country and as a Plaisance man.
But that did not go down too well with the “true” Plaisance people.
As he pleaded for a hearing, the Minister told the people that he wasn’t there for a fight or a confrontation, but wanted to help them to understand “reality” and wanted to stop the communication through the media.
He announced that it wasn’t the government’s intention to disrespect the people of Plaisance and said that if its actions suggested such, he asked that the people accept that that wasn’t the motive.
To this, the crowd responded, shouting “you lie.”
The Bishop then proceeded to acknowledge that what the government attempted to do yesterday should have been done from the inception.
He said, however, that the government “simply” intended to use state facilities to facilitate the E governance programme. After making such a pronouncement, the gathering became uncontrollable as the Plaisance residents contended that the ground doesn’t belong to the government.
The peeved residents asked the Minister why the “yo yo” behavior; as in why the government made it seem as if the decision to erect the tower on that soil was rescinded then “Luncheon,  went again and talk nonsense.”
To that the Bishop responded that the government at no point instructed that works be halted.
“When the engineers left, they left because of their own reasons, the government didn’t instruct them to do so.”
Those utterances were the source of another uproar and Edghill proceeded to call for responsible behavior so that a “solution” could have been met.
At that point, some of the residents suggested that Edghill “put it in you yard or Jagdeo yard; he got nuff property all over de place this is we only home.”
Edghill then expressed regret that the letter had reached the Regional Chairman so late. But the residents were not appeased and became even more incensed.
Aubrey Norton once again managed to calm the crowd, but then asked Edghill:
“Is the government willing to go elsewhere with the tower?” To that the Junior Minister responded that the government is willing to do so if there is a technically feasible suggestion.

Placards that the residents stuck on Edghill’s vehicle

Norton then queried why the Plaisance ground was technically feasible as opposed to where it was before (in ‘Pradoville&rsquo.
Edghill then delivered what the villagers dubbed a “lame excuse,” saying that the land where the tower was located, has been allocated for the house of the Caricom Secretary General. The villagers then asked if one man, “a foreigner at that”, is more important than an entire community.
Former Attorney General Barnard DeSantos, who is a resident of Plaisance, asked the Minister who owned the land.  Edghill responded that the land belongs to the Interim Management Committee (IMC.)  But De Santos said that the land is the property of the Plaisance community.
He informed the Minister that the land was given to the community by the Bookers Sugar Company. He explained that it was handed over so long that when GuySuCo came into being the ground was not one of the assets it inherited “even though they tried.”
Social Activist and Newspaper columnist Freddie Kissoon publicly announced that the Minister was misleading the people when he suggested that the land upon which the home of the Caricom Secretary General will be erected is not negotiable. Kissoon said that it is not written in stone where the Secretary General must live.
He also noted that a new housing scheme is being built right behind Caricom.
“He can go live there and there are many other villages in close proximity where the Secretary General can go.”
Other concerns by the more mature residents were that “When they (the children) don’t have anywhere to play they will get time to do idle things and yall gon kill them out” and that “it is a start of the government taking away everything we own.”
They explained their hurt saying that Luncheon’s actions suggested that “we don’t really care. We are going to do what we want and yall got to live with it.”
Edghill also said that Luncheon’s words were that the E governance programme will not be hijacked. But residents retorted that “yall hijacked we land, you can’t impose on people like that. And why they sent you, you is a ‘pyam pyam’ (unimportant) PPP member.”
The Minister told a section of the people that they will feel neglected if the government decides not to erect the tower and they don’t benefit.
But the warning fell on deaf ears as some of the villagers sang the song made popular by the Tradewinds “Not a blade a grass.”