Dear Editor,
I am a light-duty driver attached to a timber and logging company located on the Upper Demerara River. I usually travel the public roadway (Linden-Lethem) on an average of once or twice per week. Editor, this stretch of road is really in a most deplorable condition. Could you imagine doing 125 km in 3½ hours? This is the time I took because of the potholes (large and small) along the road. The damage to small vehicles includes shocks, shock rubbers, exhaust mounts, stabilizer rubbers in addition to the undue discomfort for the driver and co-workers/passengers.
I have been using this road for the past 19 years and recall in the days of the Omai Mining Company when it was well maintained and was a joy to drive on.
I am requesting that the government kindly put things in place so that the road can be maintained. I understand that MMC has the contract to maintain the road but since April 2012 nothing has been done. There is a gang of MMC workers camping out at the Forty Miles Creek, and they are doing nothing on the road. Yes, we know it has been raining continuously, but some work can be done on the dry areas.
Another point, they grade the road but do not fill the low parts, and there is no compacting of the road so when the vehicles travel, all the laterite flies in the air.
I am therefore kindly asking the relevant authorities to look into this matter and do some work to rectify the situation. Maybe the Minister of Works and Communication and the Minister of Tourism can assist in trying to alleviate the discomfort of motorists and passengers plying that route.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
