Dear Editor,
In a recent letter (‘Heavy rains wash away the best structures all over the world’ SN, May 20), the Prime Minister claimed bias by Stabroek News in “rushing to the judgment of poor quality roads” in South Rupununi. I beg to disagree since I know for a fact that your report is accurate.

In a conversation with the President last year, I informed him that work on the road south had started at the worst possible time – at the beginning of the rainy season. I shared with him reports I had received from villagers of an inadequate number of culverts, and in some cases, no culverts at all. There was no consultation with the people who know.

Worse, villagers claimed that substandard material, taken from the side of the road, was being used on the road itself. I then told him of popular opinion that it was inevitable that the road would be washed away. Sure enough, there was massive erosion soon after the rainy season started, and people were cut off from Lethem for some time.

It is therefore inexcusable that the exact thing should recur this year, and with the same contractor. Surely we can’t afford to waste so much money every year on projects that only make the government a laughing stock in the region?

I would like to make three suggestions. First, because the Rupununi rainy season can extend from May to September, no major road works should be undertaken during this period. Second, there has to be more care and transparency in the selection of contractors.

Third, the opinions of people living in the area must be sought, or better still, the contract should be given to villagers themselves as they have proven that they are not only the ones with the most local knowledge, but they have a vested interest in building a road that will last.

But cynic that I have become, I don’t expect anything to change next year.

Yours faithfully,
Clairmont Lye