At about 0415h today, the police say they arrested ten men and four women who were involved in the blocking of the roadway at Ituni,(Upper Berbice/Upper Demerara) and with the support of the Ministry of Works the logs used to create the blockage were removed.
The police said that a police constable was assaulted during efforts to arrest another man.
Further, at about 0800h today, police said that persons used several coconut tree trunks to block the roadway at the Kwakwani Waterfront, but they were subsequently removed.
The Guyana Police Force says it has shown considerable restraint in this matter and wishes to reiterate its respect for the rights of all citizens to protest peacefully on issues of concern to them.
The Force says it has no objection to persons conducting peaceful protests, but when protests degenerate into unlawful acts infringing on the rights of other citizens, the “police will as a consequence have to take the appropriate action.”
On Thursday, bus drivers on the Linden/Kwakwani route and residents of Ituni set up two road blocks at Ituni in protest at the deplorable state of the road.
They said that they will not ease the road block unless they get a firm commitment that a proper all-weather road will be built in the very short term.
Yesterday, in a GINA release, the Ministry of Education expressed concern over the continued road block at Kwakwani/Ituni, noting that it resulted in the disruption of the delivery of food supplies to the Amerindian Hostel and the school feeding programme.
GINA also added that the Ministry of Public Works and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission are assessing the situation and preparing to conduct rehabilitation work on the road. The two agencies met yesterday and assessed what work is required and where the funds would come from, GINA said.
Heavy rainfall in July and August, it said, seriously affected scheduled work to the road.