Barabina Hill gets road after two decades
The community of Barabina Hill in the Mabaruma sub-region (Alva Solomon photo)
The community of Barabina Hill in the Mabaruma sub-region (Alva Solomon photo)

For more than two decades, residents of the community of Barabina Hill near the town of Mabaruma, North West District were cut-off from the road network in the town.

Today, they are enjoying the fruition of a project which now sees vehicles entering and leaving their community on a newly-constructed roadway.

Town Clerk Barrington Ward and Superintendent of Works at Mabaruma and Egbert Dubra inspect works being undertaken on a bridge along the roadway. A by-pass has been built to provide access

The difficulty for the low-lying area where the roadway is built is due to a swamp; water from a nearby creek inundated the area for close to two decades, ultimately cutting-off vehicular access.

Millions of dollars were expended under the previous administration on contracts which never materialised, ultimately cutting-off the community from the rest of the area. But last December, the contractor posited that the road could have been built further south of the swamp.

Last week, this publication visited Barabina Hill and residents expressed appreciation to the APNU+AFC Government for the works completed so far.

Councillor Nisha Mendonca of the Mabaruma municipality told Guyana Chronicle that for some 22 years, she has been living at Barabina Hill.
According to her, access to and from the area via the swamp was always a torrid task. She said three years ago , prior to the 2015 elections , a wooden-walkway was built by the regional administration at the time, to provide residents with a form of access to the community .

A vehicle moves toward the new roadway at left while remains of the old roadway are visible at right

But that was not enough since vehicular access to assist the sick as well as to ferry heavy loads was needed. Mendonca, who represents Barabina Hill on the town council, said persons punished to get out of the area.

The situation changed drastically last December when the authorities managed to push the new roadway. “Before we used to pay a lot of money to reach in and go out the community,” Mendeonca reiterated.

She said when loved ones of residents passed away it was always a tough task to fetch their bodies across the swamp. Taking the sick in hammocks was another heartbreaking job residents faced.

“I am happy that now we can move in and out via this road and it brought a big ease for us here,” Mendonca said.

HUGE PLUS
Councillor Ian Baird, who also sits on the municipality and travels into the community regularly, said the project’s fruition is a huge plus for the town.

“Completion of the road gives everybody free access, we have people in here who go to the market with their produce to sell and in terms of the new road it brings easy access,” he said.

There are 484 residents living at Barabina Hill.
At the moment, the road is being tested to determine its strength when the dry weather conditions change. A bridge is being constructed along the roadway and a temporary by-pass has been built to provide access to vehicles.

Street lamps are expected to be erected along the thoroughfare which was busy last Tuesday afternoon when this publication visited the area.

Barabina resident Nisha Mendonca (right) stands alongside her colleague on the Mabaruma Town Council, Ian Baird

In April last year, Minister of State Joseph Harmon told reporters at a Cabinet press briefing that a sum of $59.9M was set aside for works to be undertaken on the roadway by International Imports and Supplies.

Under the previous administration, a move to replace a wooden bridge with a concrete structure at the nearby Kumaka Junction was said to be the cause of the woes at Barabina.

At the time, water from the Barabina Creek flowed freely under the wooden bridge and into the nearby Aruka River via connecting trenches. However, under the PPP administration, the move to build the concrete bridge with no conduit for the water to flow saw the water being backed-up and gradually swamped the lower section of the roadway near Barabina.
As such, the water eventually damaged the foundation of the roadway.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.