The dirt dam built to enable children living in Oronoque to access school at Port Kaituma Central, in Region One, is rapidly deteriorating and while residents believe it is the result of substandard work, the region is blaming use by vehicular traffic for which it was never intended.
According to Regional Vice-Chairman Fermin Singh, the weight of the heavy trucks caused craters on the dam and it has turned into a “slush pond” after the recent heavy rains, making it hard for school children and persons who work in Port Kaituma to use it.
Singh, in a telephone interview with Stabroek News, said the dirt dam which was completed sometime late last year was built to replace a wooden catwalk that residents previously used.
Many had deemed the dilapidated structure unsafe as the wooden material was rotting and some of the boards were missing. There were cases where persons fell and sustained injuries, he noted.
The dirt dam made of laterite and red loam, which is 12 feet in width, was built to allow the children of the Oronoque community to be able to access school with some ease, he further noted. “Big trucks and canters destroyed it,” Singh said.
He said the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) is looking to repave the dam and is now sourcing the required material. He said the repaving should be done by this week.
Singh stated that when the dam started to deteriorate, the NDC placed barriers to prevent the big trucks from using it. He said that there is some additional work which will be done in a second phase.
He said the dirt dam was a shorter route as opposed to having to use the Quarry Top route, which is two miles outside of Port Kaituma Central and would mean a journey of more than three miles for Oronoque residents.
A pond
An upset Marcianna Mendonza, who said that although the use of the dam by trucks and other vehicles has put pressure on it, she still blamed the region for sloppy work.
She said that their troubles started a month ago and it is getting worse since the rain has been continuously falling.
“It is not a road, it is a pond… they didn’t do it properly,” said Mendonza, who noted that it was opened to the residents earlier in the year.
According to her, a small amount of bricks was put over the red loam but that was clearly inadequate. She said that if the deterioration continues, residents will have no choice but to return to using the old catwalk, which is in a deplorable state. Residents had done self-help work to maintain the wooden structure but since the dam was opened, they have not been using it and it has fallen into a state of disrepair.
Mendonza said it would be very dangerous to use the structure in its current state as persons could fall into the swampy area below, which is infested with snakes and caimans.
As a result of the deteriorating dam and the state of the catwalk, Mendonza pointed out that many parents have been keeping their children home from school. And she, like many other residents who use the road to go to work in Port Kaituma, had no choice but to make long boots a part of her outfit.
Asked if they had approached the region with their concerns, Mendonza said no. “We are just fed up… I would like the authorities to fix the road proper,” she said, while adding that “if you doing something do it good.”
Mendonza expressed fear that very soon Oronoque residents will have no road. She explained “there is swamp at the bottom and rain at the top…the road would cave in.”
A muddied mess
Another resident, who requested that her name be withheld, said that the dam had been under construction for several years before it was finally completed around November last year. She said two weeks after it was opened, it had to be closed for repairs as the truck drivers that used it caused “big holes”.
After it was repaired, she said, barriers were placed to prevent the truck drivers from using it. Nevertheless, she added, now it is liquid mud.
The woman said that even though some travellers are using long boots, by the time they reach the other side they find themselves covered in mud. She said that residents look like if they have come out of the backdam areas whenever they use the road.
She added that cruisers are left on one side, driving on two wheels through the thick mud. The woman said that children find it impossible to go to school using the dam and those who do take the risk have to ensure that they have a change of clothing.
“The people in Oronoque are really being treated badly. We don’t even have water,” the woman said, while stressing that the inability to access Port Kaituma Central with some ease is adding to their woes.
She said that though the catwalk had its flaws, at least residents were able to make it across to the other side clean and with ease once they took their time.
Meanwhile, Port Kaituma resident and former regional MP Richard Allen said that the situation is outrageous, while pointing out that students sitting the CSEC examinations are being affected.
Allen said that last year when he queried about the dam, he was told that the IMC is supposed to do some capping but between then and now nothing has been done. “Nobody can walk on that road without using long boots,” he noted. “They just build the road with the loam and then leave it so.”
He explained that although the area is swampy, drainage pipes have been placed under the road. “This is not fair. You are spending money to do something and you are not doing it properly,” he further said, while adding that residents had approached the Minister of Local Government when he visited the area recently.
Allen said that canters and trucks were not supposed to use the road but for some reason that was allowed.
During a four-day visit to Region One recently, Minister of Local Government Ganga Persaud was met with concerns about the state of the roads and he urged residents to be more vigilant to ensure that the infrastructure is not used indiscriminately.
