A technical team from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) will be sent to Barabina, Region One to assess the condition of the road after it was highlighted that it had returned to its deplorable condition mere weeks after being rehabilitated.
Stabroek News had reported on Monday that a little over a month since the road was rehabilitated by the government at a cost of $3 million, the artery has reverted to its deplorable and impassable condition. Regional Chairman Brentnol Ashley had confirmed that while the road had been rehabilitated sometime in late April, it had deteriorated again and is now impassable.
Yesterday, a report from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said that a technical assessment team from the MPI will be going to Barabina soon to check the condition of the road. Earlier this week, reports surfaced showing the recently rehabilitated road in a deplorable state, GINA noted.
“What happened is that early in the week I had consultation with the technical team and later in the week a team will be dispatched to the area to have a comprehensive assessment done,” junior Minister of Public Infrastructure Annette Ferguson was quoted as saying. Following the assessment, the team will send a report with recommendations to the MPI on how best to remedy the situation.
GINA reported that MPI Senior Hinterland Engineer Naeem Mohamed explained that the report would highlight three areas. “First it will look at the use of a hydrologist to study the water flow to see whether there is (a) way to find (an) alternative route to divert the water from Barabina itself. Next it will look at doing a geotechnical report within the area and lastly, it will be looking at the feasibility of an alternative route to Barabina itself,” Mohamed was quoted as saying.
GINA said that based on those three areas, the team will be able to determine if additional works on the road would be necessary or if an alternative route to Barabina would be created.
Meantime, Trevor Rupan, a businessman from the Kumaka area, explained to Stabroek News yesterday that whenever the tides are low, the water would recede but would rise again when the tides come in. He said the condition of the road drastically affects the lives of the people in the area who use the road frequently. “People have to walk through the water because no vehicle can’t pass through because it’s going to get struck,” Rupan said.
Rupan, who formed a committee – the Kumaka Concerned Group – with the intention of improving the lives of the people in the surrounding area, explained that about half a mile of the approximately two miles road would be under water due to the rising tides, and one of the main reasons was because of the Kumaka Bridge that was built in 2006.
Rupan explained that the bridge was built along with a koker which he described as very small. “When it was built, they started experiencing the problems,” he said. The man explained that according to a contractor, the bridge should have been built higher with a larger koker. “It’s too small and the water isn’t getting to move off quickly and properly and more than one engineer have said that they have to break the bridge but I guess they don’t want to spend all that money,” he said.
In terms of the option for a new road, Rupan said the engineer had further explained that the proposed road would experience the same problem unless revetments are placed at the side of the road, and it is built higher than normal and properly fortified so it does not sink. “We live in a valley so all the water comes in…” he said.
Another resident told Stabroek News that the situation was overbearing and he was fed up. “This thing happening for the longest time and they promise that they woulda fix it and they did some shabby work and now it back to the same. They can’t do that. They have to do it properly and think about the people of the region. Now nobody can’t drive past there,” the man exclaimed. He said because of the state of the road, it is now difficult for persons to get their produce to the market.
“We just want something to happen so we could use the road again or an alternative way to get our stuff across the water. It does look like we will have to use a boat sometimes with how high and far the water comes,” the man related.
Other residents expressed similar sentiments and said that all they want is for the administration to live up to the promise of repairing the road and doing it properly.
Meantime, Stabroek News had also reported on Tuesday that continuous rainfall in the Matarkai Sub-District of Region One has reduced an already deplorable Matarkai access road to an impassable slush dam posing difficulties to those who traverse the roads in the area.
Yesterday, GINA reported that the road will be rehabilitated and $70 million was allocated in the budget for the works which will be carried out in two phases.
