Dear Editor,
The Regional Democratic Council in Region 9 is dissatisfied with the recent awarding of a contract for the construction of a bridge over the Tabatinga creek, which links Lethem and Tabatinga. The award is for approximately $60 million. The RDC is of the view that there isn’t any dire need for the bridge at this point in time, but that there is an immediate need for the maintenance of roads within the Tabatinga housing scheme. The roads in Tabatinga are in a deplorable state and most times are a traffic hazard to road users.
The Mayor of the Municipality of Lethem recently said in his justification for constructing the bridge that this would ease the traffic congestion at the main Tabatinga Bridge, however the general public knows that in Lethem there isn’t any traffic congestion at present. No consultations with the residents of Lethem were done before the construction of this bridge; if consultations had been done residents would have objected to the initiative and recommended using the money to upgrade the road.
Yours faithfully,
Peter Persaud