RESIDENTS are seriously inconvenienced by the deplorable roads in a number of communities in the mining town of Linden.With heavy rainfall and inundations affecting Linden, this has worsen the situation with the roads and residents are calling upon the relevant authorities to do all they can to prevent erosion from taking.
Some of the roads have been repeatedly reconstructed, but months later, they revert to their former state.
Some of these are the Main Street in Amelia’s Ward, the Teacher’s Hostel access street, Self Help Scheme access road, Block 22 access roads and Fair Rust access Road.
“We begged, we pleaded, we tried self-help, but it is beyond us, the residents of Main street Amelia’s Ward Linden ….talking to the authorities, but just promises even for just a quick fix, vehicles do not want to go down our streets to take us home, you have to wait hours after work with all kind of styles from taxi drivers…. The holes are so deep it is hard to navigate through them. We need help, for years we are begging,” a resident of Main Street Amelia’s Ward told the Guyana Chronicle.
Regional Chairman Renis Morian said $55 million has been allocated in the last budget for roads and tenders are out to have them repaired.
However, the priority was given to roads leading to institutions such as hospitals and schools.
The Chairman told reporters that the region is not in a position to complete all the roads, and appealed to Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson to come on board.
“We know we can’t finish all the roads, so again an appeal was made to Minister Patterson to support us in getting these roads done,” said the Chairman.
He said in the past, several roads were done in communities without any proper survey; hence, some roads were built where drains were to be built.
The region has collaborated with the Community Development Council and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority to clean drains to eliminate flooding in these areas, which often results in erosion.
The Chairman bemoaned the substandard work by contractors and ordered that roads should not be built during the raining seasons.