The multi-million-dollar construction on the Bartica-Potaro road from 1 Mile to 4 Miles has commenced and Regional Chairman of Region 7 Gordon Bradford has deemed the progress so far as satisfactory.
However, residents of the area remain wary of roadwork and have called the construction thus far as “patchwork”.
Micah Williams, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Bartica Minibus Association said that work thus far is unsatisfactory and not what had been proposed. “I am not pleased at all,” Williams said. “We recommended the resurfacing of the road and we jointly prepared a proposal on the type of work we expected but that is not what the ministry is doing.”
He went on to say, “Every day residents keep calling me to complain about the work that is being done.”
In an interview with Stabroek News yesterday, Bradford explained that the work has begun but must undergo due process. “It’s not fair for people to say it’s patchwork,” Bradford said before saying that this is the first step in the procedure.
According to the chairman, construction workers have transferred coal mix from Georgetown to the area and the entire process is being closely monitored by the Regional Democratic Council of Region 7.
“They’re using their present materials to do the patching up before they continue because obviously they cannot grade the foundation,” Bradford explained. He continued, “It’s a work in progress. People are ignorant of how these things work so they’re a bit skeptical but I don’t blame them because of their previous past experiences with roads returning to their poor conditions soon after the construction teams leave. I’m hoping this time around they get better work than they’ve had for the past 2 or 3 years.”
Bradford is unsure of just when the road is scheduled to be completed and said that the time frame will vary depending on a number of factors such as the weather.
Earlier this month, residents and motorists in the area had staged a demonstration to protest the deplorable condition of the Bartica-Potaro roadway. Soon afterwards, officials from the Ministry of Public Works had visited the area to assess the extent of roadwork needed.
Though some residents believed that the two actions were linked, Bradford explained that the construction work had been pre-determined after the ministry approved $25 million. Nevertheless, Bradford said, “it’s a good thing the residents protested.”
The chairman revealed that he is pushing for the construction work to be extended beyond the current stretch.
For years, Bartica residents have staged protests to bemoan the condition of the roads they regularly have to traverse. However, these roads would return to a poor state soon after construction.
