REPAIR works have commenced on the Moblissa Bridge on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway where there was a complete collapse of the bridge’s barranca as a result of heavy rain.
This was deemed an awaiting catastrophe and Regional Chairman Renis Morian sought out the ministry’s assistance and within a matter of days work commenced.
Regional officials expressed appreciation for the quick response by Minister David Patterson.

While the ministry has responsibility for roads, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman recently told Guyana Chronicle, that such cases also merit the attention of his ministry.
He said one of the reasons the highway is breaking away is because sand trucks are not adhering to the weight limit and are traversing the highway.

“Sand trucks are blamed for that and while I might say that is for the police, I take it that the Ministry of Natural Resources has responsibility. We want to make sure that if sand is being moved that it is being done in a lawful way. We have to respect weight limits and wherever this sand is coming from the sand pit must be authorised,” Trotman said.
While the Ministry of Public Infrastructure has always readily made available resources for emergency repair works, calls have been made for the highway to undergo major repairs rather than to be patched in the eventuality of an emergency.

In 2017, during the rainy seasons, several sections of the thoroughfare collapsed due to erosion but these areas were repaired. The area in vicinity of Bamia was also repaired after three fatal accidents occurred on the same spot.

Residents of Linden believe that it is time for the highway to receive a complete overhaul and even though this has been promised since 2017, major repairs have not started.
One government official told this publication that funding is not available for major repair works to be done.

“Since 2017, we hearing that the highway repairing and all we seeing is patching here and patching there; once there is a problem them coming to patch, it is time to stop patching and start doing proper work,” one car driver plying the highway told this publication.
Minister Patterson had revealed that $40M has been allocated for major repairs and lighting to be done in 2018. The two projects will be done simultaneously.

Recently reflector lighting and signs were added to the turns on the highway in an effort to increase visibility at nights.