Three weeks after protest, East Bank Berbice road still impassable - AFC lambastes officials over shoddy remedial works

BY LEON SUSERAN

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More than three weeks after residents and drivers shut down the East Bank road, and promises for a better road were made, the situation is still very much the same. This is not going down well with residents who may very well take to the streets again.

There are over 3,000 residents living along the East Bank of the Berbice River. New Housing Schemes such as Glasgow have opened up over the past years. Hundreds of school children and workers depend on the thoroughfare to get in and out of the villages that run along the roadway and tempers flared three weeks ago when those residents and taxi- drivers wanted their cries to be heard.

The Region 6 Administration had promised to effect remedial works along the roadway while stating that a brand- new road will be built after the 2012 budget is passed. However, to date, the remedial works that were carried out have not made much of a difference since the materials used have either been washed out of the huge craters, and the 2012 budget has still not been presented.

The Alliance for Change (AFC) visited the area on Saturday to listen to the complaints of residents and to assess the situation. The road was in its worst state, since it rained much of the day on Saturday in Berbice.

“REMEDIAL WORKS AMOUNT TO NOTHING”

Executive member of the AFC, Gerhard Ramsaroop said that “three weeks later, the remedial works amount to essentially nothing, because it is loosing up as fast as they are patching the holes”.

“This is not what we had expected, based on the [Regional] Chairman giving an assurance that there would be an improvement in the condition of the road…it is still very deplorable…very hard on the residents living here and cars do not even want to come in…we understand students end up going to school very late and if you have an emergency, it is very difficult to come out of the area”.

Additionally, Ramsaroop spoke about a Road Construction plant that is located at New Doe Park on the East Bank of Berbice and questioned how such a facility could have found its place in a residential area. He added his disgust over the large amounts of dust and noise that are emitted as a result of the processing of bitumen and other road construction materials. Residents have been complaining about their homes vibrating when the large heavy- duty trucks from the construction company pass by. Some residents are forced to close their windows all day to keep the dust out. “Residents are complaining of the dust, vibration and noise, so there is a lot of inconvenience…it is really hard”.

The deplorable road

 

“If you’re not going to give the people a quality road, then you should put systems in place, either by having such large operations as Nauth Construction as being responsible for maintaining the road or putting in a system of tolls for the large vehicles that are breaking up the road…you can’t just allow this to continue haywire as it is for all these years”.

“CRIMINAL WASTAGE”

Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan called the remedial works that were done on the road “almost criminal wastage…because after that protest, I understand…millions of dollars were given—three or four million dollars– and they do the crusher run and after one month, it is reduced itself to dust and slush”. “This is not good enough at all….the wastage that is happening in the eyes of residents, and it would appear that the administration would have no change in policy in relation to their spending”.

“Let portions of the road be done at quality– good quality– and then another portion, because we notice, at other areas roads are being done at very good quality, and I know that this is not an area where the PPP got its votes and to that extent you’re going to get slab- dash, piecemeal work like this…the revenue is misspent and you have monies going down the drain literally”.

East Bank resident and teacher of the New Amsterdam Multilateral School, Roxanne Ward said that students and teachers in the area are often late for work because cars refuse to go into the area. “I don’t think that is fair…I have to leave my chores undone to get out to work at 6:30 for 8:30am”. She revealed her understanding that when the remedial works were done, “holes [on the road] were prioritized….some of the holes were never fixed…holes were bypassed. It’s time for something good to be done and we have to stop wasting taxpayers’ monies”.

“DISAPPOINTED IN NAUTH”

When contacted, the Regional Chairman, Mr. Armogan expressed disgust with how the contractor, H. Nauth is approaching the task of conducting remedial works on the East Bank Berbice road.  Armogan added that the remedial works were stalled as a result of a break- down of the contractor’s machinery. “They filled a couple of holes but it was a lot of holes and then their machinery broke down”. He noted that the money for remedial works was channeled through the Ministry of Works, since the Region is out of funds.

Armogan is disappointed in H. Nauth Contracting, since they have waited for the rains to resume remedial works which will have little or no effect on the overall condition of the road. “I am very disappointed in Nauth…not being able to do work when there was dry weather…and now when the rain is here they are trying to fill the holes…there are so many holes, they might not even know which ones to fill”.
The road, he said, will be done properly after the budget comes out and urged residents to be patient since government will not spend a large sum of money on remedial works, only to dig up back the road when the time comes to build a brand new road.

Contractor H. Nauth could not be reached for a comment.