Army sent to Barrackpore

Dressed in full army gear, soldiers donned dust masks and using excavators, bulldozed tonnes of debris and derelics which were placed and set alight on the road yesterday morning.

The soldiers, together with police officers and firemen, swooped down on Monkey Town Village from as early as 4 am. But by that time, villagers had already blocked several locations with tyres and debris and set them ablaze.

Yesterday was the third consecutive day of protest action by villagers over bad roads.

But braving plumes of billowing black smoke, soldiers and police with sub-machine guns, sprung into action.

They ripped down makeshift tents residents had erected along the roadway.

Pandemonium broke out when the lawmen with excavators, pushed aside burning debris from the road. Residents were shoved and pushed aside, but the lawmen were met with stiff opposition from villagers.

Tyres and debris burnt at some 20 locations along 14-mile Esparanza Village, the largest being at number seven Scale. In one instance, it seemed the residents were gaining the upperhand when tyres of both the regiment and Penal/Debe Regional Corporation’s excavators were punctured.

Soldiers and policemen sprung into action and arrested seven protestors. Disgruntled villagers threw more derelicts, tyres and tree trunks on the roads, as soon as the police officers and army men turned their backs to break up other protest in the area.

But confrontation broke out between the villagers and police officers at number five Scale, Barrack-pore, when the latter attempted to clear the roadway. The residents refused to move out the roadway and were pushed and shoved. Crying police brutality, women clutched their babies and ran for cover. Others chanted, “We not giving up!” Some residents vowed.

By midday the area was transformed into a “ghost town” as army men, escorted by police officers, patrolled the streets up to late yesterday.

Yesterday Minister of Works Colm Imbert, speaking in the House of Representatives, blamed the poor condition of Barrackpore’s roads on the previous UNC administration.