THE contentious Barabina Road in the Mabaruma sub-region is currently being upgraded, and residents have expressed hope that the current scope of works will relieve them of a flooded pathway which has affected road travel for years.

Regional Executive Officer (REO) Leslie Wilburg noted last weekend that upgrades to the roadway began last month. The works include the laying of laterite rocks along wooden planks and the roadway will then be layered and compacted with loam.

Two revetments were constructed alongside the edges of the roadway under a contract that was cancelled previously. Ongoing works are being done to raise the level of the roadway.

In the past millions were expended on the roadway which provides a critical link between Barabina Hill and other communities in the area, including the administrative capital at Mabaruma. The affected section lies at the bottom of the hilly community.
Residents noted yesterday that the roadway is being flooded by water that gets backed-up from a nearby creek which connects to the neighbouring business community of Kumaka.
There, a wooden bridge was replaced with a concrete structure, which was built across the creek. It is unclear if any works will be undertaken to remedy the cause of the inundation of the roadway.

FLOODED FOR YEARS
The landscape near the roadway has been flooded for years and works by the regional administration, which begun in 2011, could not remedy the situation.

Responsibility for the roadway was handed over to the then Ministry of Public Works in 2012 and a contract to the tune of $21M was awarded to construction company Joshi Construction to rebuild the roadway in January 2013.

Execution of the works fell behind schedule and the following year the contractor reportedly ran out of money to complete the project which was approximately 70% completed at the time.

It was indicated then that the company had spent some $15M on the project. The contractor was subsequently fired and the roadway was left in its flooded state until the regional administration commenced works recently.

In the interim, the residents had resorted to the use of planks which were laid alongside the road shoulders in order to access Barabina Hill.

This publication visited Barabina early last month and residents noted that smaller vehicles such as cars could not use the roadway. As much as three feet of water would leave the roadway inundated for hours, even as dry weather conditions persisted in the region in recent months.