As a Councillor for California/Pt. Lisas, I am privileged to be able to deliver small projects that can sometimes have big impacts in people’s lives. We recently installed a pedestrian crossing in Dow Village and found just that.

This infrastructural project was of great necessity as it separated New Settlement Dow Village from the burgesses of the Spontaneous (Squatting) Settlement on the Railway Line of Dow Village, California.

This separated the burgessess from Sugar Welfare Development  Community and the poor and needy residents of the Railway line (Spontaneous Settlers).

For many years, the elderly and differently abled person(s) had great difficulties in reaching to and from their homes. The stories I heard were heart-breaking.

We made several requests to the Sugar Welfare Labour Committee (S.W.L.C.) to have two pedestrian crossings constructed. There was no result.

However, as Councillor for the area I was able to get permission from the Sugar Welfare Committee (S.W.L.C.) to have it constructed via a Development Project at the Couva/ Tabaquite/ Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC).

The completion of the project took two (2) weeks.

The residents/burgesses were relieved and overjoyed to have a safe, secured, stable and very comfortable crossing for the depressed community of the Spontaneous (Squatting) Settlement. I could feel their happiness, which is the greatest reward of this job.

Though the project cost were minimal, the benefits that derived from the reality of the project were tremendous!

This is the type of work that we in the UNC are continuously doing on the ground, and I am very proud to be part of this team.

– Councillor Ramchand R. Maraj