With the end of the school year on Friday, the children of St Lawrence and the other villages following it, along the East Bank of the Essequibo River, will have a two-month respite from traversing the deplorable main access road.
Recent visits by Stabroek News to the area saw huge water-filled potholes which many schoolchildren had to walk along without shoes. The reason was that in some sections, the pothole covered the entire road and there was just no place to walk but in the water. Schoolchildren carried their shoes along in their bags or in their hands as they could only be worn at school.
Many of the students, mostly those attending Secondary School often failed to get to school on time, owing to transportation woes.
The main access road along East Bank Essequibo, starting at St Lawrence has been plagued with this situation for a number of years. Residents have expressed disgust and frustration. Recently, several villagers who do not have their own transportation and must walk long distances to get public transportation, seemed resigned to doing so.
Although the road had seen numerous repairs over the years, even recently just before the recently held general and regional elections, the life of the repairs is usually short and the road quickly regresses to its former state.
St Lawrence is a farming community, which has seen some residents being able to obtain their own transportation. Some operate theirs as public transportation and others for private use. But transportation remains difficult.
Many of the taxis refused to traverse the terrain owing to the water-filled potholes. For some taxi drivers in the area, that is their only livelihood, as a result they are forced to ply their trade on the road which often results in excessive sums to repair their vehicles.
Some portions of the road leading to Parika had bitumen applied at some point, but even these sections are riddled with potholes.
Since the area has no secondary school and with Parika being the hub of economic activity, the villagers have no alternative but to compromise with the road’s condition.
There are a few brave drivers who take the risk of traversing the road. Persons living in villages like Naamless and Bendorff amongst others must often weigh taking the one or two-mile trek out to access transportation or against the agonizingly long wait for one of the braver and scarce drivers, who would occasionally go the distance.
On the average day, many who are accustomed to the trek, do just that.
These farming communities produce many of the fruits, vegetables and ground provisions which are sold in the Parika and Georgetown markets.
On a daily basis, farmers traverse the road, enroute to the Stabroek and other markets in Georgetown.
On Saturdays many head to the Leonora and Zeeburg markets with their produce, while vending begin from Saturday and continues until Sunday afternoon at the Parika Market.
The community is also famous for its many sawmills which also attract frequent customers, some from as far as Georgetown, East Coast and even Berbice.
Many of the residents who spoke with Stabroek News expressed disgust at the neglect by the relevant authorities.
Calls were made for the current administration to visit the community and address the situation with a permanent remedy. (Roger Wong)
