Residents of Block “V” Herstelling, East Bank Demerara are once again calling on the authorities to intervene and provide proper roadways for the community.
Residents who are forced to endure the deplorable condition of the roads say they have exhausted all avenues to have the situation remedied.
Stabroek News during a visit on Wednesday to the community, which is also referred to as ‘fourth bridge’, spoke with several residents who shared their views regarding the condition of the streets.
Neville Butts, a concerned resident, told this newspaper that the roads in the community are extremely bad.
He stated that as a driver, it is very disheartening and causes him to become discouraged from driving his vehicle in and out of the community. He added that the state of the road prevents him from having a clean yard and vehicle.
Butts explained that the condition of the roads continues to put residents in difficult situations especially when taxi drivers are reluctant to drive into the community. And for taxi drivers who do agree to work in the area, the cost is sometimes exorbitant. He is appealing to those in authority remedy this situation in the community urgently.
Another resident who gave his name as Greg Defranca, and a member of “Care for the Community”, told this newspaper that in 2020 the community had taken the initiative to fix the roads.
With the help of S. Jagmohan Construction who provided the group with a needed machine, the task was left up to the group members to provide an operator and fuel to operate the machine.
In order to execute the plan, the man explained that an operator was hired and money for additional materials was sought through donations from members of the community who pitched in to make the project possible.
They managed to raise approximately $300,000, he said, allowing the entire Block “V” area to be graded within a four-day period.
However, because the water pipelines are just beneath the road’s surface, grading the roads again is problematic.
Defranca disclosed that the road now needs to be sand filled before any further work could be done as he recalled at least five pipelines were broken due to the grading of the roads in the previous exercise.
Efforts to complete other drainage works were also hindered by the pipelines.
The man stated that the works to improve the roads are now at a standstill as the residents are relying on the officials to intervene.
“The situation is getting worse”, he lamented.
Defranca, while stating his hope for some form of relief, said that a majority of the persons in the community are vehicle owners and are suffering in terms of maintenance of their vehicles since the condition of the roadways is aggravating wear and tear.
He added that drivers are discouraged from replacing suspension parts since the parts do not last as long as they should, given the state of the streets they are forced to navigate daily.
Defranca stated that while residents are not asking for much, thought must be given to installing speed humps since the community has a lot of children and it is a known practice for taxi drivers to speed through the community.
The Block “V” road also serves as an access road leading to the “Farm” area which causes an increase in traffic out of the four bridges in the scheme. Also, the heavy flow of traffic is exacerbated by the fact that the scheme is one of the more populated ones.
Meanwhile residents also complained of the deplorable condition of the bridge. Although it was recently upgraded, they claim that all the board were not changed and some are rotting.
With the heavy weigh trucks that traverse the area, it is feared that the bridge will soon be damaged.
Another resident who asked not to be named, stated that it was impossible to drive through the area without the bottom of the vehicle grazing on the high bumps on the streets.
For pedestrians in the area, he explained that it is a challenge of “hopping and skipping across puddles” since the puddles of water stretch across the road and even drivers are forced to “ride the wave.”
It was also pointed out that the area is teeming with cows that traverse the streets and sink any available dry spot that could be used for walking.
The wavy roadways are unbearable, the resident said, and an eyesore to residents who live in the area.
He too, is pleading with the authorities to intervene and assist the situation urgently.
In November last year a new Community Development Council (CDC) was formed in the community and they have expressed the intention of looking into aspects of community development.
The persons on board are also engaged in the legal process of getting the group (CDC) registered in order to move forward in getting the needed work done.
“The goal is to work with the relevant stake holders to enhance the development aspect of the community,” a source told this newspaper.
