Dear Editor,
Much to our relief, the seasonal rains have returned to Guyana, and very much so to the South Rupununi, as the pictures on pages 12 and 13 of the May 18 edition of Stabroek News show.
All over the world – in Europe, in England, in the USA – heavy rains ‘wash away’ the best of roads, bridges and buildings, and much more so, our laterite roads. Why could Stabroek News not be satisfied in just reporting, ‘Rain washes away roads in South Rupununi’? Is Stabroek News not exposing its bias in rushing to the judgment of “poor quality roads”?
Two-lane roads, natural surface to asphaltic concrete, across Guyana, would cost from G$5 million to G$200 million per mile. The Ministry of Public Works and Communications strives to do the best that it can with whatever moneys we, as a people, as a country, can muster, and within the experience and expertise of our people and with materials that are available. We remain vigilant against shoddy work, but like the boy who cried “wolf” all the time, Stabroek News is compromising itself as a credible critic.
Yours faithfully,
Samuel A Hinds
Prime Minister
Editor’s note
It is true that heavy rains in Europe and the US wash away “roads, bridges and buildings,” but that is in unusual weather conditions, and not every rainy season. If the infrastructure of a developed nation were to ‘wash away’ every year, it would cause a major scandal.
As far as the ‘poor quality’ of the roads, etc, in the Rupununi are concerned, it has been an ongoing complaint of residents in recent years that the work on the infrastructure in Region Nine is substandard. In our report of April 20 this year, one of the Toshaos referred to the road from the Deep South to Lethem, which he said had not been done properly. For example, there were swamps where culverts were needed to allow the water to pass, but none had been installed. Another resident described the newly upgraded back road from Lethem to Karaudarnau as “sheer slush.”
In a report carried in this newspaper on July 22, 2009, we referred to a complaint from a resident, again about the trail from Lethem to the Deep South, where he said the section between Shulinab to Mountain Point had been ‘upgraded’ to allow easier access, particularly in the rainy season. “What actually happened,” he continued, “saw millions of taxpayers’ dollars once more being wasted. The foundation used was the powder dust alongside the trail, and then a kind of layer of laterite was laid on top to make it look good.” The first shower of rain, therefore, began washing it away, and in previous years, the resident said, that part of the trail had never given problems.
The method of upgrading described by the resident was confirmed by a Toshao, who recalled that in the previous year Toshaos from the Deep South had fixed a portion of the road through self help, and it had given no problem for the duration of the rainy season and was still fine. Had they been given the money, he told this newspaper, they would have been able to repair the road for less than what was paid to the contractor. He too said that they had been using the same road before, and there had never been any major problems, but now it was “just adding more misery to us.” What should have been done, he said, was that the “bad spots” should have been fixed.
We would also like to advert the Prime Minister’s attention to our reports on a number of failed or collapsed bridges in this region, as well as to the inoperable hydro-facility.
Given the collapse of so much infrastructure in the Rupununi, and the continuing complaints from residents about poor quality roads, etc, the Prime Minister, within whose remit this falls, is afforded an ideal opportunity to mount an investigation into the matter of substandard work in Region Nine.
