Dear Editor,
The Bartica-Potaro Road remains in a horrible condition. Some residents said that a few weeks back, Mr Gordon Bradford, Region 7 Chair-man, announced on his weekly TV programme that the contract for the 1 to 5 Miles Potaro Road had been signed, and work would hopefully commence within two weeks’ time if the weather changed, since we are currently in the rainy season. He was further reported as saying residents should come out and look over the road work when it commenced since it is their money being used to finance the said work.
Editor, how can the residents look over the road work if they are not given a copy of the contract to see what type of road is to be? My question to Mr Bradford is, are any of the residents qualified engineers who have knowledge about road construction?
The law provides for a road committee made up of residents in each region, so who are the members of Region 7’s committee and is it functioning? There is a hinterland committee which deals with construction of hinterland roads. Residents are requesting a copy of the contract since they are very concerned about what it may contain, since it may be nothing more than the normal repair and patch the road that the region does. With this the roads normally end up back to square one, and there is concern about the yearly wastage of taxpayers’ money on this continual patching.
In September 2012 a number of Bartica residents held a picket in front of the NDC over the condition of the Potaro road, and they were joined by a number of bus owners and other road users. The Hinterland Engineer and the Regional Executive Officer agreed to fix the road, and promised that they would not allow it to return to its former state. At present the road is in a worse state than it was before last year’s repair work was done.
The residents said that they are no longer prepared to allow the regional representatives to continue to waste taxpayers’ money to do the Potaro road, and recommend the following: transform the Potaro road into a heavy-duty asphalt-surfaced road; place drains at the sides of the road; and establish a committee of persons selected by residents to ensure proper accountability and that the terms of the contract are fulfilled.
The Bartica-Potaro road was built in the early 1900s and wound its way for 112 miles from Bartica in Region Seven to Mahdia in Region Eight, with branches along the way. If the road is resuscitated, then it will speed up mining and economic development along the route.
Editor, the contract should not only include the stretch from 1 to 5 Miles; the entire road should be done, which would benefit the residents of both Bartica and Mahdia, since persons who travel to Mahdia from Bartica have to cross the Essequibo at Sherima to get to the Linden-Lethem road and then cross the Essequibo River again, near Mabura, to travel westwards overland to get to Mahdia ‒ a very time consuming trip.
Yours faithfully,
Micah Williams
