CIE Ltd Puts The Forgotten Communities Back On The Map.

Sections Road conditions before works began

While Mighty Pele’s song “Cest Tradicion Noel”  with the chorus “Belle wad epi Sooleay say tradicion Noel” is befitting for the normal citizen who thinks of partying and “Bon Tan”, for the residents of The Forgotten Communities ,“Belle Chemen poo Noel kar menen ple moun epi business an cummin la.” To do a little transliteration, it says, ‘While Mighty Pele’s nice clothes and shoes are traditions of Christmas for the ordinary citizen who thinks of partying, for the forgotten communities we think than nice roads for Christmas brings more persons  and business in the community.” This is a fact. Residents in the Forgotten Communities have seen a significant drop in their relatives coming home for Christmas as well and a reduced number in vehicular traffic over the years. They complained about the deterioration of the road network.

Before and after near Amelin

This is changing as I write this piece. CIE Ltd a top rated Construction firm on the island has been given the task to make the people of the Forgotten Communities happy for this coming season. The company has been contracted to rehabilitate the road from Debreuil to Myers Bridge. We the residents of the Forgotten Communities welcome this. For too long we  have cried and wept over this semblance of a road – vehicular traffic has almost come to a standstill, and a few bus drivers  have withdrawn their service altogether.

Road by wall near Evans

The owners of business in these communities themselves have made their voices heard. Two or three of them have written to the media complaining about the poor state of the roads. Their sales have been miserable and now there is a sigh of relief as they see works are ongoing. When this road which serves the communities was in good shape, commuters travelling from Vieux Fort to Soufriere or vice-versa used it as a bypass –it cuts travel time by about fifteen minutes or more. Due to the frequent traffic the business places got more sale opportunities. One can very well see why their enthusiasm about the road being rehabilitated.

Road widening in Montete

A reliable source has informed ‘Choiseul On The Move” that the CEO of the company is doing part of the work at his own expense since the finance allocated to the project would leave part of the road in the same condition it is now. But Mr Gajadhar, and his willingness to uplift people and communities have decided to continue the works to the finish – up to Myers Bridge. The residents of The Forgotten Communities say “BRAVO” and a big thank you to CIE’s CEO. Rarely do we see such initiatives coming from contractors. This is a feather in Mr Gajadhar’s cap.

A finished section in Roblot

 As the name signifies – The Forgotten Communities, we were almost isolated – traffic was not coming through, few strangers were seen in the communities, persons were not leaving their homes to go anywhere – it was virtually  lost communities. Work is now full  speed ahead on the road; the humongous pot holes are being patched, other worse places are being resurfaced and the section between Montete and Myers Bridge is being widened considerably.

With the road nearing completion, one will definitely see more traffic passing through the area, commuters plying the routes as before, more persons coming into the community, off and on a taxi driver on his way to Soufriere from Vieux Fort or vice versa, showing off our lush green landscape, and  the business places seeing an increase in sales.

The Forgotten Communities will once more be on the map of visibility. Thanks to all the Facebook fans of the group "The Forgotten Communities" who without their support would probably never see this works. Thank you, so much. We are on!!!!!!!!!!