Traffic along the Lethem trail halted on Good Friday afternoon after parts of a bridge located a few miles south of Karasabai collapsed under the weight of a truck.
According to reports, shortly after 2 pm on Friday, the truck which was transporting goods was crossing the bridge when parts of the infrastructure fell in. A car which was in the vicinity was stuck along the infrastructure leaving heavy lines of traffic behind it.
According to an eyewitness, the bridge was one of several which may have given way to the heavy traffic that usually traverses the trail on a daily basis. Reports are that the authorities in the region were up to yesterday working to remedy the situation by repairing the damaged bridge.
A minibus driver who travelled into Lethem on Friday afternoon said that traffic was eventually able to pass along the bridge even though it was damaged. He said the situation could have been worse.
It was noted by motorists along the trail, mainly bus operators, that the 37 bridges which are located along the trail south of the Kurupukari crossing on the Essequibo River had been in a fairly good condition but because of the heavy traffic which passes through the area, small bypasses are made in the form of “tracks” at the sides of the bridges in the event the bridges are damaged.
A 30-seater bus driver noted too that the bridges should be upgraded on a regular basis for vehicles such as his and he added that the bridges were only one aspect of the problem where the road was concerned.
The man told Stabroek News that sections of the road which were virtually impassable following heavy rainfall in mid-2010 had not been upgraded as expected and with the anticipated May/June rains on the horizon, the “road situation” needed to be examined in a “more proactive manner”.
He said that for close to two months last year, drivers of “the big buses” were unable to use the road, while many minibus drivers “punished” during that time as the roadway along the Hunt Oil stretch and in the vicinity of Corkwood, close to the Kurupukari Crossing were badly damaged during persistent rainfall.
He said too that since the road was fixed temporarily last year following the period of interruption, no further work was done. During a trip to the area last week, this newspaper observed several concrete culverts along the roadway which were never used.
A minibus operator noted that the culverts should have been utilized to drain sections of the road but since the rains “ease” last September, they were left along the roadway.
The man said too that the Brazilians had been anticipating the road’s upgrade in order to link trade and investment opportunities not only with Georgetown, but with Suriname and French Guiana.
He said that many passengers from the neighbouring state to whom he had spoken to had been hoping that the road would have been upgraded to a paved, all-weather thoroughfare.
He said he was told that the authorities in the neighbouring state were considering two options in order to link that country with Suriname.
Another bus driver noted that the roadway is expected to be “damp” as more than 80% of it passed through the rainforest.
He said that residents in the border community were anticipating plans by the Brazilians to upgrade the roadway to come to light but according to him, such plans “probably ain’t important”. According to the man, “in Brazil roads leading to jungle areas paved and the people mek an offer to fix this Lethem trail but I dunno why they [the government] never consider it.”
The roadway had been a cause of concern for motorists and passengers as many cited its lack of maintenance.
President Bharrat Jagdeo, told residents in the community yesterday while making an address to formally open the Rupununi rodeo this year, that close to $600 million had been set aside to upgrade the Lethem trail this year as well as roads in the south Rupununi. He said too that the sum allocated will also be expended on a road which will link the trail to the Region 8 area.
The President was expected to meet with a delegation of Toshaos from the two regions where the issue would have been discussed.
The Lethem trail had been a cause for concern for many in recent times and with opening of the Takutu Bridge last year, the governments of the two countries have been anticipating a boom in investment opportunities for the two nations within the private sector.
Last September, weeks after the road had become virtually impassable, a Brazilian delegation had met the President and made a proposal to upgrade the road. To date there has been no further word on the issue.
