Dear Editor,
The East Bank Road is currently our only driveway to the city and the very first impression visitors get of Guyana on arrival. Prior to actually getting on to this driveway you get a pretty confused picture of the country as you leave a relatively small but fairly modern airport to begin your journey to the city which usually begin from a rough- surfaced airport car park with no clear markings of the way out. Your journey then proceeds on a dimly lit road again with no suggestion that gives you the slightest impression you have arrived in a country on the threshold of a potential economic boom. Things begin to look up a bit more as you approach a roundabout suggesting some optimism and proclaims “One Guyana” or “Love Guyana” – I can’t clearly remember but which gives the visitor their first sign of hope that they may soon be heading for a link-up to some major highway into the city.
These thoughts quickly fade again as your driver navigate a dull and unfinished dual lane carriageway taking you to a poorly lit bend and somewhat dismal area leading to yet another narrow and bumpy double lane road with traffic sometimes passing dangerously close for your comfort as others approach on the opposite lane at more than safe speeds. This road goes on for a couple of miles with virtually nothing much of interest before getting to a small village with some quaint and dimly lit houses close to the roadway. Traffic, including large trucks zoom by pedestrians and groups of persons gathered on the roadside gaffing and drinking alcohol at roadside bars. Vehicles are parked haphazardly on both sides of the road and even though your windows are closed you can still hear the music penetrating the car. Your driver, to your amazement and personal fear, navigates an unlit and unmarked island on the middle of the road at the Soesdyke junction of the Linden highway and skillfully continues to navigate the traffic, holes, and uneven patches along the way so you can enjoy as best you can the ride to your destination.
Editor, the above is a scenario experienced not just by visitors but also by us locals who must use this so-called road for various reasons. The surface is not just bad with unsuspecting holes and unevenness, there is no clear demarcation between the driving lanes or where the road edges and parapets converge. The lighting is poor and even non-existent in parts. Hugh trucks drive up behind you, flashing their lights (an indication that they will pass). On the opposite lanes more lights dim and flash constantly adding to the nightmare. Editor, this does not just give a good impression of our country, it is also a most dangerous driving corridor used by many in an often reckless manner. When you eventually get to the four-lane section of the road much further north, the medians have no reflective markings or lights to guide you and a couple actually stick out in the darkness at some turning points.
The inside or left-hand lane is mostly unusable due to badly parked vehicles. With new and better roads being built further east and emptying onto this already narrow and congested road, it is interesting to know what the plans for an alternative route to the airport are. In its current state, this does not give visitors or potential investors a good first impression of our country at all. Everything takes time I’m told, but at least in the interim, due maintenance and road safety checks can be carried out to ensure better road use by all. Assigned patrols to deal with issues like bad and illegal parking, pedestrian traffic, and safer driving until better can be done. Presently, both Safety and Image are in question.
Sincerely,
Bernard Ramsay
