Bids have been advertised for repairs and maintenance of the Linden/Lethem trail and work is expected to be completed before year end.
According to an advertisement which appeared in the Guyana Chronicle on Wednesday, bids are invited for the rehabilitation and maintenance of the trail.
The advertisement stated that the eligible contractors were being sought to effect works along a paved section of the trail, at Wismar in Linden to Number 48 miles along the Mabura Road. From that point, work will be effected until Number 63 miles at Frenchman Junction, Siparuni to the North Kurupukari area and then further south to Lethem.
This newspaper understands that the authorities are working to have the road upgraded before the end of the year and Region Ten Chairman Clarendo Lucas told Stabroek News yesterday that a team from the Public Works Ministry was assessing the state of trail.
There have been complaints over the state of the road linking Guyana and Brazil, with most persons noting that the authorities should have utilised the dry weather to upgrade the trail.
Last July sections of the trail south of the Kurupukari crossing became virtually impassable and trips to the border community by bus stretched to as much as 24 hours.
The mainly affected area was a swamped section of the road at Cork Wood, an area near the Iwokrama Rainforest Reserve.
Further south, the Hunt Oil Stretch between Lethem and Annai had washed away and residents said recently that since two culverts were laid along the road to ensure water did not accumulate, no other work had been undertaken to the trail.
Residents and commuters travelling to and from the area have been calling on the government to upgrade the road to the stage where it becomes an all weather road.
A Brazilian delegation, during a visit to Guyana last August, had pledged its support in assisting the government to improve the condition of the road, which is seen as a vital economic link between the two regions.
