By Svetlana Marshall

REHABILITATION of the Bartica-Potaro Road will open a window of opportunities not only for miners but residents of Regions Seven and Eight, Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources Simona Broomes asserted on Thursday.The main thoroughfare, which will effectively link Bartica to Mahdia, will soon undergo extensive repairs after being neglected for more than 20 years.

Minister Broomes had lobbied the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government to rehabilitate the road, which is in a state of disrepair, long before she had even explored the possibilities of becoming a Minister of Government and was simply a miner. “I took pictures of that road, I wrote about that road, I begged for it to be repaired…I pleaded with the then government to rehabilitate that road but I felt as a miner that it was a deliberate act by that government to remove that link between Bartica and Mahdia,” Minister Broomes told Guyana Chronicle.

According to her, the government’s announcement is a promising one and a clear indication that it has its people at heart. When the road is completed, she said it will allow residents to have easier access to educational and medical facilities. It was explained that in its current state, persons travel for hours being able to access the Bartica Regional Hospital. “The rehabilitation of this major road will definitely link towns and forms part of the APNU+AFC’s Policy, a policy that I embrace because the opening of that road will bring hope to hundreds of people, real hope,” Minister Broomes said.

In addition to easier access to mining plots, health and educational facilities, the minister opined that the rehabilitation of the road will stir up economic activities in communities that line the main thoroughfare. She assured that the Ministries of Natural Resources and Public Infrastructure will continue to work collaboratively for the betterment of all Guyanese.

In a recent interview, the Public Infrastructure Ministry’s Senior Hinterland Engineer, Naeem Mohamed revealed that most of the critical work will be between 80 Miles and 111 Miles, which is approximately eight miles from the Issano Road junction in Bartica. It was explained that bushes will be cleared, corduroy work will be done and lateritic material will be used to fill in the road.

The Denham Suspension Bridge at Garraway Stream; popularly referred to especially by miners as the Cassandra Crossing Bridge, along the Bartica/ Potaro Road will also be repaired.

Mohamed explained that the bridge is the main one linking Bartica and Mahdia. “We are currently doing an estimate for the Cassandra Crossing Bridge and examining the best alternative for construction, whether the bridge will be a concrete structure, steel structure and whether it will be a one-span or intermediate span,” Mohamed said.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson had also explained that a technical team had visited the area and is currently in the process of preparing the engineer’s estimate.

“When that is completed, they will go out for public tendering. When we receive those tenders, (they) will be reviewed and forwarded to Cabinet for ‘no objection’ by route of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB),” Minister Ferguson further explained. In the 2016 budget, $1.702B has been provided for rehabilitation of hinterland roads in Bartica, Mahdia, Ituni-Kwakwani and the Cassandra Crossing Bridge. A total of $400M from the budgeted amount will be used for rehabilitation works on the bridge.