Although repair works were completed on the main road at ‘C’ Field, Sophia only a few months ago, it is already crumbling and frustrated residents say a proper upgrade to the community road network has been long overdue.
Residents charge that repairs on the road network in the area are only undertaken during election periods and noted that the most recent work was done during last year’s elections campaign. It was only a matter of months, they said, before the roads started to crumble under the weight of the heavy-duty vehicles that usually traverse the area.
During a visit to the area yesterday, Stabroek News encountered sections of the crumbling main road that called for careful navigation due to several potholes. The cross streets were similarly lined with potholes, including some with depths reaching approximately two feet.
“We have a lot of problem in here, the road, the drains, the general situation of this place is deplorable and the government is doing nothing to assist us,” said Gloria Forde, of John Street. “When is election time them coming here and dig up de road and expect we fuh vote fuh them when deh nah do nothing fuh mek life easier here,” she added.
Forde stated that whenever it rains, the loam on the road becomes very slushy and children, especially during the school year, have to use the roads in that state. “When rain fall and this road is all muddy, my children does be cover in mud when they have to go to school in that state and that is not fair to them because they need to be clean,” she stressed.
Another John Street resident, Sharon Joseph, told Stabroek News that for the 16 years she has been living in ‘C’ Field, the road was properly upgraded twice. She added that the Public Works Ministry repaired the road several times but the works done were not “up to standard.”
“Last year them dig it up and sand fill it, but when the rain fall all wash away and it gone back to the same state. So, is like they didn’t do anything,” she said.
“They have to come in this place and assess the situation. Then they have to get their engineers and monitor the type of vehicles that use this road and then make a plan to have the road properly done. If they don’t do that, then they will keep repairing it all the time like how they doing with the main road,” she suggested.
Efforts to contact Public Works Minister Robeson Benn for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.
Joseph, like every other resident this newspaper spoke to, emphasised the need for issues affecting the development of the community to be addressed as well.
Maxwell Austin said that he has been living in ‘C’ Field for the past 20 years and there has been little or no developmental changes in the community. “I challenge the government to show what they do to help people in here,” he said.
The irate man added that they have been advocating for the road network to be properly upgraded for approximately five years now. He said that he has frequently visited the Ministry of Housing and Water and the Ministry of Public Works and is yet to get an affirmative answer from either. “We, the residents here, are ready to work with the government to get these roads done because in the end is we who gon benefit not the government,” he said.
“Plenty time this place does get emergency and people does find it hard to get out because of the road,” he added. US-based Guyanese educator and former Pocket Street resident Rodwell Smith called for immediate intervention in the community. “Without proper facilities, the youths cannot develop properly. And, as we know, people say that Sophia is a notorious community. For development to take place, we need these things to be addressed first,” he said.
Smith, who is holidaying in Guyana, said that there is need for developmental changes in the “neglected” community, so that the youths and the community on the whole can progress. He is calling on the government and the relevant ministers within the government to ensure that provisions are being made to have the changes occur.
Last month, at a commissioning ceremony for a newly built road in Block ‘F’, North Sophia, Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali announced that plans are in train to spend $120M for developmental works in the Sophia area this year.
