Major repair works to the East Bank Berbice public road should get underway next month and $18M was budgeted by government for this in addition to funds usually granted for remedial work.
Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn said that there has been a request for the ministry to undertake the repairs to the road, but this will not be possible until a further three weeks, the Government Information agency (GINA) reported. Benn explained that extra work is being done on other roadways in various parts of the country, including the Mahaicony/De Hoop branch road, which is a major project and money would be lost if this project is put on hold. Work is also being done in interior locations such as Mahdia and Lethem.
The minister recently visited East Bank Berbice and spoke with Neighbourhood Democratic Council officials and it was decided that temporary work would be done in the interim until the major work begins next month, GINA said.
Region Six Chairman, Zulfikar Mustapha, pointed out that temporary work has been ongoing with the use of milling material from the Corentyne.
However, the weather is a major factor to be considered when road work is being done and since it is currently the rainy season, major rehabilitative work is not possible.
On July 16, residents of Glasgow and nearby communities on the East Bank Berbice staged a protest demanding that the road in their area be fixed; standing on the road from 6 am and braving the scorching heat of the sun to demand attention to a problem they say “has been going on for years now.”
Mustapha told the residents then that a case had been made to the Ministry of Public Works for a proper road to be built and this would be addressed in another “two to four weeks’ time”. In the meantime, he said the region would continue to do remedial work.
According to Maxwell Semple, the president of the East Bank Berbice Hire Car Association, and a resident of Glasgow, “For years now this is being patched with red, and mud; we never a get a proper road. They never do any proper work here, never.”
He told Stabroek News that the neglect is being reflected in the quality of the road. He does not feel that this neglect has anything to do with race or politics, because “the PNC fail we, now the PPP failing we, who we must turn to next?”