Dear Editor,
Six years ago, candidate Irfaan Ali promised the people of Orealla a road to Moleson Creek. Today, that road remains unfinished. After six years, just two kilometres of a 48-kilometre stretch that can connect the two areas have been completed. At that pace, Orealla will be waiting another fifty years for what was pledged by Dr Irfaan Ali in 2020. How can these people trust him in the future?
Meanwhile, pineapples and other agricultural products rot in the fields because farmers cannot get their produce to market. I would highly recommend the Leader of the Opposition Mr. Azruddin Mohamed visit the area to provide the people with the real life visual of the levels of poverty in Orealla.
It is so bad that the villages are now risking sending some of their produce across the border to Suriname, some of which end up on sale in Nickerie. But that journey means splitting the profits with the Surinamese trader since they have to navigate a river controlled by foreign authorities. Poor villagers cannot afford that kind of payout on a regular basis. The government speaks of food security, but Guyanese farmers watch their crops decay for lack of a simple road connection just because President Ali cannot deliver on a promise made six years ago.
The Toshao himself has called this road link crucial. If even the community’s own leadership is raising the alarm, why is the President not listening?
I have spoken to farmers and families in these communities. They are not asking for much—just the ability to get their goods to market, send their children to school, and live with some measure of dignity. Instead, they remain cut off. River travel is expensive and dangerous. Children cannot access proper secondary education. Farmers cannot earn a living. The community is stuck, and the government’s response is to speak of “long-term objectives.” For people living in isolation, long-term is not a plan. It is a life sentence.
Two kilometres in six years means this road will not be completed until 2075. That is not a development agenda. That is a broken promise dressed up in political speeches.
The people of Orealla do not need more photo opportunities. They need the road they were promised. They need a government that treats their votes as something more than a means to an end.
The time for talk is over. President Ali should deliver on his word.
Yours faithfully,
Lancelot Hyman
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