Dear Editor,
The day that MV Sabanto damaged the Supenaam stelling, I travelled on it from Supenaam to Parika. Everything seemed well after we left, and as we disembarked from the ferry, I saw my niece on the Parika stelling waiting to board. About two hours later she texted my son saying that the ferry had rammed into the stelling and damaged it.
I thought it was a minor damage and would get fixed within days, but this was not to be. I left my place at Diamond for the return trip about 1 am in the morning to board the ferry which was billed to travel at 8 am. While on the Parika stelling, I overheard some men saying that Transport and Harbours should use the Chinese ferry to transport the smaller vehicles to Supenaam.
These men apparently saw the damage to the stelling and they were saying that a dragline could be used on a pontoon to lift the damaged section and get it fixed soon, because only a limited number of big lorries can travel on the MV Malali. This made sense to me. I know that General Manager Ms Merchant would like to see the damaged stelling fixed soon and both of the Chinese ferries back in action, since Transport and Harbours is losing revenue every day and the number of lorries which used to transport goods and agricultural produce like rice cannot make the trip. It is risky to get on and off the MV Malali; the stage is very steep, and at times the sailor and captain have to use a loaded lorry to press down the stage board so it will be level with the boat and stelling. This helps to avoid damage to car bumpers and bottoms which are low. It was a wise decision taken by the General and Traffic Managers to use the Chinese ferry to transport light vehicles in the meantime until the stelling is fixed.
Government should make every effort to fix this stelling because since it was damaged only a limited amount of goods are being transported into the region. Some businessmen have upped their prices for certain items; this is ridiculous, after all, it’s the poor people feeling the squeeze from their pockets. We need to get the two Chinese ferries and the Malali to do 3 trips a day as before, so production can go up once more in our region. Cabinet must act fast to rectify this situation.
The ferry did not leave on time as scheduled the day of my return trip; the tide was low so we had to wait until 10 am to travel and the boat took exactly 3 hours to reach Supenaam. The sandbank needs to be dredged in the Essequibo river to avoid further delays. When the water is extremely low the boat gets stuck on the banks; this went on under the past administration. What is disappointing, however, was the lengthy time it took to land the ferry. In my opinion, Captain Hope is one of the best; he will do his trip in one hour from Supenaam to Parika and land the vessel in a jiffy without any difficulty.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan