….demand meeting with Ramotar, not BennBy Leon SuseranThe East Bank Berbice Road was yesterday morning shut down by hundreds of angryA section of the impassable East Bank Berbice Roadresidents,Cheap NFL Jerseys Online, vehicle owners, drivers and concerned citizens who protested the impassable state of the 25-mile roadway.The thoroughfare runs along the eastern banks of the Berbice River and alongside it are a plethora of villages, such as Edinburgh, Sisters, Brothers, Heathburn, Glasgow Housing Scheme, and Mara among many others.Over the years,Cheap Jerseys USA, the population has increased since new housing areas, like Glasgow, have been opened up, therefore making entry and exit to the East Berbice corridor essential and the poor state of the road over decades has made the matter into a very contentious issue.Yesterday, residents reached the brim of their anger and frustration and a protest and picketing exercise began amidst heavy rainfall in the area. This posed no problem as the exercise went ahead as planned, even though the organizers stated that they were denied permission by the ‘B’ Division Police to hold a protest. One organizer stated that it was on the morning of the protest that a call had been received from the police giving the go-ahead for it.For years, the government has been spending huge sums of money to rehabilitate the roadway which would quickly deteriorate afterwards, but the residents and drivers stated yesterday that “enough is enough” and they want a “brand-new road”.“A lil boy nearly drown because he fell in a hole with he bicycle,” stated a protester. Another led the chat: “What do you want?” and the people responded, “The government’s attention!”The protest action shut down the entire roadway yesterday severely hindering workers, including teachers, nurses, and school children from exiting the area to get into New Amsterdam.Cars and other vehicles lined the roadway, even in the centre, in silent protest of the state of the roadway. The transport of vegetables and cash-crops coming out of the crucial farming community of Mara, some 25 miles from New Amsterdam, was affected and the items either had to be taken back or the drivers had to wait out the protest.Member of Parliament of the Alliance for Change, Gerhard Ramsaroop was present along with former UG Lecturer, Frederick Kissoon and some others from Georgetown, to listen to the concerns of the residents.Nurse France of the New Amsterdam Hospital was very vocal in her plight for a new road.“I am unable to go to work because of the road. In 2010, we had Mr [Zulfikar] Mustapha as Chairman and he made us a promise that he would collect $260M to commence construction of this road. Unto this day, 2011, no road! And Mr Mustapha subsequently retired. I was born in Edinburgh and never did Edinburgh have a road. Today,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, we are out to have a compete road,” she shouted.“Yakusari, Black Bush was given a road! Johanna Cecilia was given a road! Rosignol, all over the country, there is good road. Edinburgh has people. We are taxpayers! We are human beings. Our children, our families and our relatives are suffering! All we are asking this present government to so is to give us a proper road!”Nurse France addedWhen told by fellow protestors about recent pronouncements by some government officials which suggested that the population on the East Bank of Berbice is too small for major monies to be spent on a proper roadway, she asked, “Did the people of Yakusari have investment when they were given a road—Port Mourant, on the Corentyne Highway—and had a refurbished road given back to them? The government and Mustapha said that there was money that was released to do this road, so where is the money?” “We would not close this protest until we are given a road!”Region 6 Chairman David Armogan then arrived on the scene and the protesters stormed to get his attention. He then began to listen to their complaints.“Just patch road we getting all the time!” said a protester.A huge crater on the roadwayArmogan tried to appease the protesters by assuring them that the government “will do the road but they have to wait on the [2012] Budget”. He told them that this was revealed to him through recent discussions with Minister of Works, Robeson Benn. The protestors then shouted,Jerseys From China, “We ain’t want hear nothing from Robeson Benn, we want President Ramotar, Benn is a waste of time!”“A Member of Parliament said that we ain’t got population here to do the road”, another person told Armogan.Armogan told the residents not to bother with that MP. The MP had told Kaieteur News in January, that “The East Bank Road is kind of a touchy issue since a number of funding agencies are reluctant to fu