Dear Editor,
The Mabaruma Township (Barima-Waini) residents are somewhat relieved that their deplorable roads are in the process of being fixed by a road fixing crew even though no one is engaged in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to ensure that sub-standard work is not done.
But if no one is doing M&E during the road fixing process it means that as soon as the rain falls, the road will return to the usual deplorable condition. The access roadway from the airstrip to the township main road is now fixed but only up to the Mabaruma Post Office. Residents and moreso the drivers of vehicles want to know why the section of the main roadway from the post office to the Kumaka Road Junction has not been fixed. According to information received from residents, the road fixing crew is now focusing on the Kumaka access road for repairs starting from the Kumaka Waterfront area.
The Mabaruma Town mayor Mr. Henry Smith now wants the Kumaka vendors to be removed and to occupy the completed vendors’ tarmac. But the vendors are saying that they cannot move to their tarmac because it has been transformed into a dump site where huge piles of sand, bricks, cement and smelly garbage are now dumped, attracting lots of carrion crows. The residents are saying they will not occupy the tarmac until it is cleaned and sanitized.
But the Mabaruma residents want to know and are asking when will the Barabina community swamp road and the Hosororo road leading to the Wauna community and beyond be fixed? Residents are of the opinion that there should have been two sets of road fixing crews, one to tackle the Mabaruma- Kumaka- Barabina roadways and the other to tackle the Hosororo to Wauna and beyond roadways which are terribly affecting community residents. According to Mabaruma residents poor planning is the order of the day at Mabaruma and this as well needs to be fixed and investigated by either the Ministry of Communities or Public Infrastructure.
Yours faithfully,
Peter Persaud
