Dear Editor,
It is completely unacceptable that the river dragger in the Mazaruni, which sank over two months ago at a critical access point along the river, has still not been removed and that no authority has as yet taken the bull by the horns and mandated that it be removed. Too many have been inconvenienced by the inaction of the owner of the sunken dragger for the authorities to let this situation continue indefinitely.
About six weeks ago, the dangerous position of this sunken dragger forced the jetboats ‒ the main form of transport into the Middle Mazaruni ‒ to stop running completely. This left the communities of the Middle Mazaruni completely cut off from the coastland.
Numerous hardships ensued for the populace, especially those in mining areas and communities between Marshall Falls up to Kangaruma, where jetboats are the only form of transport.
People were left stranded. A number of mining operations were forced to close down since perishables were unable to arrive. Businessmen were forced to count their losses since stocks could not go up to the Middle Mazaruni and money and mineral production could not come out to the city. All in all millions of dollars were lost due to this sunken river dragger.
This situation caused the Ministry of Natural Resources to convene a public press conference where they stated that the dragger would be removed within a week. Was this all bluster and PR gimmickry? Because the dragger is still there and nothing further has been done by the authorities or the owner of the dragger.
The dry season is fast approaching and the water level in the Mazaruni is once again dropping rapidly. If nothing is done to remove the sunken river dragger then there is every likelihood that jetboats will once again stop running because of the danger which the sunken dragger poses. This time there will be a bigger problem since the water level may not raise again in the near future. Untold hardships will arise if such a scenario does occur.
The owner of this river dragger, who is allegedly a high profile player in the mining industry, seems in no hurry to remove it. Maybe the alternatives to removing it as a whole vessel are prohibitively expensive so he is not too keen on doing that. But this does not absolve him from doing what is necessary to have it removed.
The situation remains where his inaction will affect many, possibly hundreds, and cause heavy financial losses for businessmen, miners and villagers who depend on the jetboat service.
There is also a definite possibility that boats may want to continue taking chances and make risky runs down the rapids and, heaven forbid, may eventually be involved in an accident. Does the owner of this dragger or the relevant authorities realize the possible consequences of this?
Maybe the authorities are not aware, but river draggers can be cut up and removed in sections and later reassembled. This may be a very expensive option, but if that is the only way to have this wreckage removed then it should be done sooner rather than later.
It is time that the relevant authorities show leadership and make a definite decision. They should not wait until there is suffering and people become discontented and start protesting.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
