By Antonio Dey
Overloaded, speeding trucks barreling through small community roads and damaging them have been put on notice by Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill.
He issued a stern warning on Wednes-day evening as the Parliamentary Com-mittee of Supply approved the budgetary allocation of $73.2 billion, this year for the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of community roads.
In 2023, $60.7 billion was spent on community roads, while an additional sum of $73.2 billion has been budgeted in 2024 to continue these projects.
Edghill and Opposition Parliamentarians Annette Ferguson and Amanza Walton-Desir all agreed that the ministry must now impose weight restrictions on trucks which are in the habit of traversing community roads.
Walton-Desir also requested an update on the weight-bearing regulations, which serve as a guide to the tonnage and limit for vehicles entering residential or non-residential areas, as large trucks are frequently damaging main community roads.
Edghill in response said that this policy is currently under review by a consultancy firm via the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
While he agrees with Walton-Desir that these policies must be implemented, truck drivers must also change their mindset as it relates to how they traverse community roads, Edghill posited.
The Public Works Minister remarked, “This nonsense must stop. We cannot afford to have these 60-tonne of trucks traversing the roads which this government built and destroying the shoulders, this is unacceptable and I will put a stop to this”.
He continued “And a message to the contractors. You cannot break a front road and build the back road with your heavy-duty machinery, it is a norm and those contractors, it is not the first they are doing this but I want them to know once caught you will face serious ramifications”.
According to the Minister “When a heavy-laden truck traverses the Linden-Mabura Road with 25 tonnes per axle instead of 8 tonnes per axle, it destroys everything that is along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway which encompasses the East Bank Corridor and Mr Figueira and Mr Sears can tell you this Mr Chair-man (Manzoor Nadir of the Committee of Supply)”.
The Minister suggested that smaller vehicles utilize the smaller roads to accommodate the magnitude of commercial traffic, while large vehicles utilize the larger roads to avoid damage to the public infrastructure.
“When we are supposed to be focusing on developing other roads we have to now rebuild or redo roads that are damaged because of errant drivers and contractors, and that is costing us a lot”, Edghill lamented.
However, when pressed by Walton-Desir into when these regulations would be drafted and sent to the Chambers of the Attorney General for perusal, Edghill said that these policies are a work in progress and will be presented to the National Assembly for approval soon.
“We are anxious to have them in our hands so they will be in place soon,” Edghill said.
But in the interim, the Minister said that drivers need to “get it right” or they feel the consequences through their pockets.
He said that anyone who damages public infrastructure is liable to pay for the damage done. He called on the opposition to show support.
“I believe in strong and structured legislation but we have to be able to get society to collectively cry out against it… people must not allow it. If they see it bring it to our attention,” Edghill added.
He said there is also the issue of malicious damage to roadways, mostly during protests and then there is the issue of officers who are to impose weight restrictions and who take bribes and allow overloaded trucks to pass.
Edghill said that the Government will be implementing a robust road safety and traffic management plan.
This plan includes the implementation of information technology solutions to manage traffic, including the development of a new radar system and new laws and regulations.
These interventions are aimed at significantly reducing the carnage on the roadways.
When pressed by the opposition on how effectively the ministry will utilize the sum of $7.3 billion to continue the development and maintenance of community roads, Edghill recapped that in addition to these major corridors being upgraded, work continues to improve community roads and streets, to ensure that every area benefits.
He also recounted that the government commissioned a new four-lane highway from the Sheriff/Mandela junction to Diamond, and this year will continue the construction of the Diamond to Busby Dam that will ultimately connect Busby Dam to the Timehri four-lane highway.
An amount of $8 billion has been budgeted for this work to continue, Edghill told the Committee of Supply.
He said the rehabilitation of the Linden-Soesdyke Highway is expected to begin this year as the procurement process was launched last year. A sum of $10 billion has been allocated to commence works in 2024.
The construction of the new Wismar Bridge is also expected to begin in 2024, for which $4.2 billion has been budgeted.
Works also progressed on the Linden to Mabura Hill Road and the 45 concrete bridges along the route from Mabura to Lethem. In 2024, he said that the government will significantly advance works on the Linden to Mabura Hill Road and complete the construction of these bridges.
