As critical parts of the Lethem trail remain in a treacherous state, passengers travelling to and from the Region 9 area have been making the best of the situation which had not improved yesterday.
Persons in the area told Stabroek News yesterday that the conditions along the Hunt Oil Stretch, situated between Annai and Lethem and the Cork Wood area, located in the vicinity of the Iwokrama rainforest centre, have not improved and as long as vehicular traffic continues there, the situation will remain the same.
Works to the 18-mile-long Hunt Oil Stretch road have been doubled with the addition of a Works Ministry team working along the section of the roadway from the northern end, while the private contractor employed by the ministry is working from the southern end.
Efforts over the past two days to obtain a comment from Transport and Hydraulics, Minister Robeson Benn on works being undertaken to the trail were unsuccessful.
A resident noted yesterday that the road will continue to be ‘in a rocky shape’ once vehicles continue to use it and he noted that trucks are still being allowed to use the two critical areas along the road even as works are being effected to same.
He said that a recommendation from the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce (RCCI) to have the road closed so that works can be undertaken in “a more effective manner” should be considered as the roadway, seen as a vital economic link between the coastland and the border area, cannot be repaired to a satisfactory level with traffic being allowed there.
He said that a previous ban on the heavy vehicles was not helpful to the situation as smaller vehicles were still being allowed to use the road, even as works continued to be carried out.
Another resident in the business community told Stabroek News that the area is prepared to ‘brace itself’ for works to be undertaken on the roadway, minus vehicular traffic, as the rains have not been as frequent as before, with the communities in the Region experiencing two days of sunshine until yesterday.
A passenger who travelled to the city recently told this newspaper yesterday that the trip took some 4 days by minibus, with almost two days being spent crossing the Hunt Oil section of the roadway, which was described as being “similar to travelling from Stabroek Market to the Providence Stadium”.
