More suffering due to substandard work

  By Daniel Fraser The Alliance Road, properly named Reid’s Avenue, Timehri, East Bank Demerara, is in urgent and dire need of repair. This road underwent over G$9M rehabilitation sometime before the 2011 Regional and General Elections, and a few years before that over G$5M to do the same repairs! This was the declaration of residents, who are faced daily with the herculean and tedious task of plying that public thoroughfare to commit to their livelihood. In this instance the residents were expressing their anger and concern to a delegation of the AFC headed by the Party’s Chairman Mr. Nigel Hughes on Sunday October 27 last. Residents explained that around 2008, the Ministry of Public Works supposedly assigned a contract to a private contractor that saw thousands of cubic yards of materials including the 4-6 inches concrete slabs that made the road from the Timehri Public Road to the first bridge, excavated and dumped. Over four inches of materials that formed the road was just removed and distributed to anyone at a cost. This was replaced with white sand/loam mix and crusher run. At no time was there any overseer/Clerk-of-Works to attest to quality and quantities provided or the compaction required to ensure a standard necessary for a proper job. In 2011, when work was being undertaken on the road, they raised serious concern about the quality and standard of work being done, to the extent where they blocked the road to stop the work and therefore called attention to the respective ministry. The media came into the matter which saw a senior engineer from the Work Service Group of the Ministry of Public Works, who said that he was the Project Officer, coming into the site and declaring that the works were being conducted as per the Bill of Quantities which formed part of the contract entered into by that Ministry. “There was an angry standoff between the residents who were fighting for a proper standard of road that would allow for some relief to positively affect their daily livelihood, and the Ministry’s workers and agents whom seemed anxious to just complete the project regardless of …, It was on TV” chided one of the residents. Alliance Road has been in existence for several generations and houses the Bitumen Plant, with both freehold and state lands for agriculture and residential purposes. The aged, (over 100 years) sewage system pipes, inherited by the American Army during their occupation of the (Hyde Park) Timehri Base during World War ll runs through that road and discharges into the Demerara River. The mixed population of over 2,000 residents earn their livelihood from traditional agricultural activities, working with the public and private sectors, including the Guyana Defence Force, Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Fire Service. Because of its proximity to the Demerara River, a private boat landing is established and is used and provides river transportation to folks trekking the Demerara River. The condition of the road is prohibitive to small vehicles in instances due to the extremely large potholes and extensive indentations along the thoroughfare. Obviously, the lamentable condition of the road impacts with tremendous negativity on the lives of residents and visitors thereto. Complaints about access in cases of emergency, damage to vehicles, and the prohibitive prices required to take residents to and from their homes by use of special hire taxis add to, and ultimately compounds the frustration of the residents. Residents living beyond the second Bridge are allegedly told by the Public Works Minister that the mud (earthen) dam they use to access their homes cannot be upgraded because those lands are private lands. Attention was then drawn to other such situations where the Public Works Ministry built roads, like at Friendship, EBD, that has a 700 feet road leading to a party supporter’s house off the public road. One resident asked if road construction being undertaken is based on the votes the PPP government received in any given area. It was also posited by some residents that the condition of the road allows for all forms of illegality and nefarious activities, as the police cannot access the road in any manner timely enough so as not to alert perpetrators of criminal undertakings. The Party Chairman advised the residents that complaints of these nature are heard throughout the country and that the Alliance For Change through its Parliamentarians, and the media will be highlighting their concerns and make efforts to have them addressed in a manner that would bring ease to them. The Party delegation included Daniel Fraser – Region 4 Management Committee Chairman, Anil Mohanlall – Vice Chairman East Bank District Management Committee (EBDMC), Sherlanda Daniels – Secretary EBDMC, Dominic Gaskin – Party Treasurer and Beverley Alert – PRO .