What started out as potholes have since developed into moon-like craters and when this newspaper visited the various communities within Parfaite Harmonie last week, it was observed that the poor state of the roads, beginning with the Access Road has now extended deep into the other communities.
Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal recently announced that residents of the community are expected to benefit from at least 10 kilometers of road works, which he said will commence soon.
What are the local government bodies doing about this problem?
Stabroek News observed that huge potholes, as if strategically placed at various points on the Access Road, were causing vehicles to slow, and in some cases, navigate around or where they have dried up, just drive through them. The residents of Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara at this point are weary and disgusted having to use the same badly deteriorated roads continuously, but for now they can only plead that something be done at the soonest.
When Stabroek News contacted the Goed Fortuin Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), the newspaper was told that the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) has responsibility for projects in this area. The Director of the Projects Department of the CH&PA, Omar Narine was unavailable at the time a call was placed to the CH&PA. However, a representative of this department stated that works in this area will commence soon further noting that she is unaware which part of Parfaite Harmonie will be addressed first.
Regional Chairman for Region 3 (West Demerara-Essequibo Islands), Inshan Ayube, speaking to Stabroek News, stated that he was not present at a CH&PA meeting held some months ago; this meeting identified projects in Parfaite Harmonie. The Chairman did note that the last information he has regarding Parfaite Harmonie was that a survey was required to be done but he was not in a position to confirm whether the survey was ever implemented. Ayube also said that any repairs done on the road would have been during the previous administration and cannot say who the contractor was at that time, as the current administration was denied access to that information by the then government.
Sanjay Hattiramani, a naturalized citizen, who has been living in Parfaite Hamonie for three years and who owns three vehicles said it is not easy when he has to find parts for all of them as a result of wear and tear from the road. Hattiramani said that with some of the crazy drivers on the road, many times he has to simultaneously avoid both them and the potholes along the Access Road. The resident pointed out that at one time the Access Road had street lights but sometime between late 2019 and last year, those lights were removed further increasing the difficulty to navigate the holes at night. However, three street lights were reinstalled at the head of Access Road.
He also pointed out that his street’s share of potholes grew progressively worse over the last two years. Hattiramani said that repairs were done in his street last year but did not reach as far as his house. One of the streets in Harmony Place, Parfaite Harmonie, is riddled with holes in its entirety, some of which were so wide, they spanned the road’s entire width leaving little space for even a pedestrian to navigate. A resident who asked to remain anonymous shared that every now and again, someone would come and patch the holes but these were only a temporary fix. For the past year no repairs were done in her street. Residents from time to time come together to fill the holes but now children can no longer ride their bicycles as they wish. “It’s an accident waiting to happen. People who are not familiar with the area have fallen into that hole at the head of the street as soon as they turn left to come in. I’ve had some visitors here earlier in the year and they got stuck outside of the guest house (situated in the street). They were driving a rental car. It was horrendous, neighbours had to come out and push them out of the hole,” she said.
The woman shared that the present muddy state of her car was as a result of the road, adding that there have been occasions where her car was in a worse state because of the road. She lamented that every day she has to use the street to and from work. She is aware that the CH&PA has some projects planned for Parfaite Harmonie but doubts that her street has been catered for in the projects. An employee of the Guest House mentioned that the condition of the street forces passengers to exit at some potholes so that the cars, now lighter, could maneuver their way through the holes first and once in the clear they could re-enter.
Julian Gobin of Recht Door Zee, Parfaite Harmonie is a hire car driver. Of the twelve years he has been residing here, eight of them he has worked as a taxi driver. He said initially he worked the Vreed-en-Hoop to Parfaite Harmonie route but two years ago he stopped. Gobin said that after the roads got worse, he changed to the Vreed-en-Hoop – Wales route though he’d still have to get in and out of Parfaite Hamonie to get to his area of work. Gobin said to get to his home now he has begun to avoid the Parfaite Harmonie Access Road by taking the Middle Dam Road which begins at La Grange and ends in his area. This road he said is much better for driving.
He noted that at one time when the roads were in better condition, buses and cars usually would drop off passengers in their streets, and even their homes. But now passengers are being dropped off at the head of their villages. This new system also goes for residents who work the late shift. Parfaite Harmonie has become notorious for robberies and, according to Gobin, it is extremely dangerous, particularly at nights, for persons to be dropped off distances away from their homes. “I would sit down on the verandah about 12/1 o’clock in the night and you would see the bus drop out people right there at the head of Lust en Rust to walk till into the back there. It’s not safe at all and to make it worse, the street light blow so the street dark,” said Gobin. The driver recounted that sometime ago, a driver from the city who was not familiar with the area, brought passengers to Parfaite Harmonie during a rainy period and all the potholes were submerged under the accumulated water. Maneuvering his vehicle resulted in two damaged tyres that very night. It turns out that the bus driver was not alone in suffering punctured tyres. Gobin’s wife who is a shopkeeper, noted that when the Banks DIH truck now comes into the area, they stop at the head of the street. The woman said because she is approximately four house lots away from the head of the street, she manages to get her goods back to her shop without much difficulty. Another shop-keeper living in the street opposite hers but all the way to its end has a much longer distance to carry his goods. To alleviate his situation the shopkeeper uses a trolley to get his goods back to his place of business.
“We ain’t see government do nothing yet. The other day I see some lil boys put some (crusher run) in the holes but when the rain fall, all wash out back,” Gobin said. One of the hire car drivers who works the Vreed-en-Hoop to Parfaite Harmonie route, Rishi Moonsammy, was at the Dairy/Parfaite Harmonie car park at Vreed-en-Hoop hustling for customers. “It got some big, big holes, as you land inside it, you bust you tyre. Parts are really expensive. We glad if the road could do,” said Moonsammy. The man said on average he traverses the road about fifteen times a day. He pointed out that presently he is driving with two damaged tyres. Another driver who works taxi, John Adams was standing nearby. Adams who has been working taxi for thirteen years said he does not accept any work for Parfaite Harmonie anymore because of the state of the Access Road and even more reason not to, are the streets in the area. The driver is utterly against going into Parfaite Harmonie so much that he stated there is no amount of money he could be paid to go there. “It’s in a deplorable state. One time when I was working in there, my tyre was bent when I was coming back out. One second-hand tyre is about $7,000 right now. I would go anywhere else but Dairy,” said the man.
The state of the road underlines two problems facing the local government authorities: substandard work is being done on many of these roads and redressing this requires the input of central government as the local councils do not have sufficient resources to take on the job.
