Vice President of the Demerara Speedboat Association, Lancelot Moseley fears that the rotting and unstable structure of the Vreed-en-Hoop Stelling may collapse, resulting in fatalities
Persons who use the Vreed-en-Hoop, West Bank Demerara (WBD) stelling say that they risk serious injury because of the deplorable state of the structure.
Mosley also said that the steps leading from the landing to the boats have been in a dreadful state for years and nothing is being done despite numerous complaints. He stressed that both passengers and workers have made complaints to the Harbours Department and also to Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn, but according to one passenger, “it passes through one ear and goes through the other one.”
Moseley said that a woman fractured her foot on the badly damaged steps and the entire stairway can fall at any time.
The vice-president added that in the morning hours, over 200 persons traverse the ‘rotten step’ daily. “At any time this step can collapse. It can collapse with a huge number of persons and it can be fatal.”
Yesterday, Minister Robeson Benn said that he understands that some repairs were made to the stelling last year. He said that occasionally, speedboats would ram into the structure, but the Minister promised to investigate the complaints this week.
It was that the speedboats are required to pay a daily fee of $1440 to operate in the vicinity of Vreed-en-Hoop and Georgetown.
“Why is it they can’t use that same money and repair the stelling? If I walk too hard on this step, it shaking hard hard.” Moseley claimed that he had earlier addressed these problems with former President Bharrat Jagdeo at a meeting. “At that meeting Minister Benn was there and he promised that he will look into the matter but up to this day nothing is done,” Moseley claimed.
