Emergency works undertaken on damaged Aishalton road
The repaired roadway near Aishalton.
The repaired roadway near Aishalton.

DIRECT vehicle access to the Deep South Rupununi village of Aishalton has been restored as a critical section of the roadway, which eroded recently, has been rehabilitated.
Toshao of Aishalton, Michael Thomas, noted on Saturday that emergency works were undertaken at the area, which eroded under flood waters a few weeks ago, by JR Construction. He said works were also done at other parts of the roadway.

Thomas expressed appreciation to the government for the timely response to the situation.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure said it was working alongside the Ministry of Natural Resources to assess the damage to the Aishalton main access road.

Heavy and persistent rainfall resulted in a section of the main access road in Aishalton being washed away, cutting off vehicular traffic to the key Deep-South Rupununi village.
“Residents of Aishalton are asked to remain patient as the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and the Ministry of Natural Resources work assiduously to assess and evaluate the damage caused by the flash flood in the area,” the Public Infrastructure Ministry said in a statement after the situation worsened.

It said the ministries regional engineers were on the ground and were discussing the way forward with the Regional Administration.

“The Ministry of Public Infrastructure, along with the Ministry of Natural Resources, understands the importance of this access road to the livelihood of the residents in and around Aishalton and jointly, the ministries will ensure that the road becomes passable in a short while,” the Public Infrastructure Ministry said.

It was explained that while there are hundreds of culverts along the roadway between Aishalton and Lethem, the area that has been washed away lies along a long stretch which is surrounded by swamp water.

There is, however, an alternative route which some villagers have been using to get to and from Aishalton, and that roadway connects the village with Awaranauwau. The one problem, however, Thomas said, is that going that route entails some 40 miles of travel, which means an additional four to five hours compared to what usually obtains along the original route.

Heavy and persistent rainfall has been the cause of flooding in many hinterland areas in recent weeks. Recently, flash floods in Mahdia forced residents living in low-lying areas to relocate as many counted their losses. The town council is working to relocate as many as 14 families to higher ground. Last week, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) had stated that it was monitoring the situation at both Mahdia and Aishalton.

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