AFTER a long while now, myself and other concerned citizens have noticed some major impediments that need to be addressed on the Upper Corentyne Highway because the citizens there are living in a carefree manner and do not stop to consider what is taking place presently around them due to their disrespect of the way the Corentyne public road is being used. These following matters of concern need to be addressed and hopefully, the relevant government’s ministries such as Tourism and Public Works and Communications can see the importance of this article and try their best to rapidly solve these ongoing issues that are causing accidents on the roadway and are also making our Corentyne / Berbice, Region Six atmosphere look shabby instead of attractive.
1. Parking tractors and trailers, draglines, trucks and other rice farming agricultural machineries. On the Upper Corentyne Highway, especially the (No.52 – 74) machinery that are privately owned have been parked for months on the public road and have been a hindrance to people driving their automobiles late at night and trying to sway from stray animals (another ongoing issue that needs serious attention too) and could end up crashing into these machinery parked adjacent along the roadsides both left and right.
Instead, they should be parked on private property lands or in a private garage instead of leaving the muddy machinery to linger on the roadside which is an obstacle to drivers and also causes the surroundings to be untidy. The Local Authority No.52-74 NDC and regional chairman should take heed of this matter of great importance to safety and try to solve it as best as they can by making rice farmers buy find alternative parking sites
2. Machinery leaving muddy tracks on the public road and breaking up roadways. This is another vital matter of interest that needs some attention. Rice farmers, tractors especially, when leaving the back dam area where they plant and harvest their paddy  bring out trailers when the rain starts to shower overland and in so doing bring out an enormous amount of mud on the Upper Corentyne Highway. This is safety problems for vehicles that are supposed to traverse along the roadways like: cars, buses, motorbikes. The muddy road also looks filthy and embarrassing.
3. Drying paddy on the roadside. Another troublesome situation we are faced with is the fact that local rice mills and rice farmers do not have drying floors or concrete to dry their paddy and as such choose the public road which poses traffic hazards. I have noticed this has been occurring for a while in various parts of Berbice.  Once you are into the rice business and have to dry paddy, I believe you should have your own land, private flooring or concrete in your private yard to get your job done in a safe way. Your job should not become a problem for society.
4. Dead Animals on the roadside need to be picked up by someone from the local government. It is gruesome for tourists, and locals like myself and others to see dead animals on the road that have their guts exposed and are decomposing and permeating a hazardous stench should. As soon as an animal is dead in an area the local government is supposed to be notified about it and then should send workers to pick up the freshly dead animal before it starts to rot and reek and bury it around a non-residential area. The local government in various areas where dead animals are seen rotting on the roadside have to take action about this which will help towards making our society a better and beautiful place to live and deal with.
These are just a few major points I am identifying here to make Guyana a better place. As Michael Jackson would put it in his song “Heal the World” he sang, “Make it a better place for you and for me.”