By Alva Solomon
“PARIKA Agriculture Road” is the new name residents propose giving the former ‘Parika Backdam’ Access Road, which, as is implied, gives access to the farming communities on the East Bank of Essequibo.In recent months, work has been ongoing in the predominantly farming area linking the ‘Parika Backdam’ Access Road to the Ruby Access Road and the busier parts of Parika.

Residents from in and around the area where work is being done told this newspaper on Tuesday that being allowed to rename the roadway will make many of them “feel proud”.

During a visit to the area by the Guyana Chronicle, road works were seen to be moving apace on the Ruby Access Road, with just one final stretch of roadway still under renovation.

The upgrade includes the building up of the road with sand, loam and bitumen, which, according to residents, has already resulted in an increase in vehicular traffic in the area.

As ‘Ruby Backdam’ resident Deodat Seodat told this newspaper, there are currently three generations of families living in the area and utilising the roadway, and many of their members were born there.
He said that because livelihood in the area predominantly revolves around farming, access to and from central Parika, popularly referred to as ‘Parika Front’, has for decades been a worry.

“In the end we lost because the vehicles use to be drop side-to-side, and in some cases it couldn’t reach out in front,” Seodat said.

Another farmer noted that with the coming of the new road, he will now be able with less hassle to take his produce and other perishables to the market at Parika.

He said that in years gone by, when crusher-run was the preferred material used in road repair, things became pretty dicey whenever it rained, as the roadway was rendered almost impassable in some places.

In addition to the road’s current upgrade, power lines have also been erected for the first time in some communities in the area, an initiative for which the relevant authorities have come in for high praise from residents.

One resident has even gone a step further in asking that the authorities consider connecting the wires to the ‘Parika Back’ Primary School in the community, since medical clinics are held there monthly, and cold storage is a major requirement.

Additionally, persons are asking for a police outpost to be set up in the neighbourhood as part of the area’s development plan. “We cannot wait for crime; we want to prevent that! So we are thankful for all that has happened here,” Seodat said.

Harrinaine Deokenanan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, told this newspaper at Parika that more than 1000 cash-crop farmers are benefiting from infrastructural works done in the ‘backdam’ area.

He said that farmers from Naamryck and other neighbouring agricultural communities are reaping the benefits of the infrastructural works; and if all goes well, the wooden bridges in the area will be replaced by concrete structures, thereby giving longevity to the structures.

On Tuesday, while this newspaper traversed the access roads in the communities, several residents gathered at the junction where the Ruby and Parika Backdam Access roads intersect, as motorists and cyclists zoomed by. “We want to rename this place; this roadway needs a better name,” one resident said, adding that as the infrastructure in the community is upgraded, renaming the Parika Backdam Access Road will give a sense of “pride” to persons who live in the backdam.