During the rainy season, flooded creeks and streams limit travelling in the Deep South Rupununi. While roads have improved over the years, residents have come to view the rainy season with trepidation.
The price of basic items, almost all of which are brought from Lethem by road, rises given the difficulties in transporting the goods through the difficult terrain. In recent times, the Region Nine administration has begun work to upgrade the roads leading from Lethem to the Deep South.
But while welcoming the improvements, residents are not happy with the quality of work being done. Recently, residents at Aishalton in the Deep South Rupununi, vented their feelings on this and cited past experiences. Speaking at a meeting in Aishalton, Deputy Toshao Kid James questioned what would happen when the “real” rainy
season starts given that the quality of work being done was poor. He said that the roads are basically trails. Pointing out that mining company Romanex said it would help to upgrade the road from Aishalton to Lethem, he asked whether it would be the company or the regional administration that would be responsible for the road.
In response, Regional Vice-Chairman Claire Singh said the region upgrades roads, it does not build them. She informed the gathering that three bridges are to be built this year and said that leaders must work with their communities to identify priorities. She said every year, the regional administration asks
the communities to identify three priority projects. “We’ve been doing buildings. Buildings and we’ve not been using them,” she said while urging that they work together.
Toshao Arnold Stephens said the road to Lethem was not done properly. He said there are swamps where culverts are needed to allow water to pass through but none are installed. This reporter, travelling in the area last week, saw water flowing over a section of a newly upgraded road between Katoonarib and Lethem resulting in sections being washed away. Erosion was evident at other parts.
Dorothy James, an Aishalton businesswoman said that for 35 years she has been travelling the Lethem – Aishalton road and described the Rupununi River crossing at Dadanawa as “terrible”. She said that on one trip on the back road from Lethem to Karaudarnau, the newly upgraded road was “sheer slush” following rains. “These are the kind of roads that are being given to us,” she said. James recalled that last year, following the first rains for the season, a section of road “was cut in half”. She also pointed out that while the road at the back is being upgraded, the Rupununi River Bridge, which collapsed under the weight of an excavator since during 2008, remains unfixed.
Region Nine Chairman Clarindo Lucas had told this newspaper last year that the plan is to build a “better, stronger bridge”. The broken bridge had been constructed at a cost of $16 million and Lucas had said that work on the bridge had not yet started because they are awaiting funds to start construction on the improved bridge. He had said that since the existing bridge will have to be modified, extra money will have to be allocated but asserted that this would be a challenge because of the economic constraints facing the country.
However, in December 2008 he had said that funding for the project had already been secured, since the Brazilian gold-mining company which owned the excavator has provided the money for the reconstruction of the bridge. He had said at the time, that it would have been repaired as soon as the weather permitted. The bridge is only the second such structure in recent times to be built over the Rupununi River. The other bridge is located in the village of Karaudarnau.
There are other bridges that have suffered damage too. This reporter saw one that was washed away and another that was partially burnt. Additionally, the approached to some bridges on the road from Lethem to Karaudarnau are not done properly.