THE Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) will be injecting some $50M into Region Seven to execute a number of infrastructural projects including roads which are in dire conditions.
The projects will be identified collaboratively by the Regional Administration and the Bartica Mayor and Town Council, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure disclosed in a statement on Saturday.

MPI is currently undertaking four projects within the region including rehabilitation of the Bartica-Potaro Road, spread across two lots: Mile 33 to Mile 52, and from Mile 52 to Mile 72; rehabilitation of roads and drains in Bartica; rehabilitation and construction of the road from Mile 4 to 5 Bartica, plus drains; and rehabilitation of Issano Road (phase 1 – White Hill).

The Ministry of Public Infrastructure on Saturday completed a two-day visit to Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) with officials from the Ministry of Finance.
In a meeting with the local and regional officials, including the Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford and Mayor of Bartica Gifford Marshall, Minister David Patterson provided an update on the visit and ongoing projects and also listened to issues being experienced by the regional administration and municipality.

Minister Patterson said he was “personally disappointed” in the state of the roads within the region and urged the regional administration to clamp down on overladen trucks which contribute to the rapid deterioration of the roadway. Mr Bradford conceded that the large “bush trucks” were indeed damaging the roadways.

In response, Mayor Marshall said that the issue of implementing tolls had been considered and talks are ongoing. He also noted challenges, including slothfulness and substandard works done by contractors. He added that the poor works have led to a bad impression of the ministry, the regional administration and the municipality in the minds of residents.
“We want to express our disgust with the contractors who are taking advantage of the taxpayers’ dollars. We want value for our dollars,” Mayor Marshall emphasised.

Nonetheless, he thanked the ministry for the works that are being executed within the Region and within Bartica. “I know it’s not been easy; there have been challenges but we are very, very grateful,” he said.

Meanwhile, the two-day visit was conducted by a large team from MPI, including Minister Patterson; Permanent Secretary Kenneth Jordan; Chief Roads and Bridges Officer Ron Rahaman; Hinterland Engineer Jeffrey Walcott; and Hinterland Coordinator Gregory Rickford and a two-person team from the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

“The purpose of the visit was to assess the hinterland projects ongoing within the region and to gain a better insight into what is required. Sites visited included Issano, the Amaila Falls Road and Cassandra Crossing,” MPI explained.

According to Minister Patterson, the decision was taken to invite MoF officials to give its financial officials a greater appreciation of how more funding could allow MPI to realise its mission of satisfactorily upgrading hinterland roadways. The explanation was provided during a meeting held today with regional executives and the Bartica Town Council.

“We were able to see what our brothers and sisters go through when travelling,” Minister Patterson told those present. He continued, “Sometimes it is difficult to explain to persons in offices what is needed and why … so we want them to see for themselves so that we are able to better represent ourselves (during presentations of MPI’s budget to MoF).”
He further explained that he and his team had visited Region 8 just last week and this most recent visit was to see the other end of the trail.

“The idea is to fix the road up to these two major crossings and the last project would be to repair and rebuild the bridges; Denham Bridge (Region 8) needs specialist work and suggestions were made on what we will do with Cassandra Crossing (Region 7).”

He said that between the two bridges there are approximately 10km of estimated roadway and upgrading this stretch would provide a smooth linkage between Bartica and Mahdia, a project that would better commercial activities and lower the costs of living within the two communities.

He further said that it is hoped that the 10km between Bartica and Mahdia will be rehabilitated in 2019 and there are plans to include the project in MPI’s 2019 budget.

VERY ROUGH TERRAIN
Meanwhile, MoF’s Finance Secretary, Dr Hector Butts, speaking on behalf of his ministry, explained that the trip had been an eye-opener.
“We wanted to see and assess to a large extent visually the progress that we have made for the road infrastructure in Region 7,” Dr Butts said.

Noting that the trip had been rife with difficulties, including a blown tyre, malfunctioning vehicle, stuck vehicle, and “very rough terrain”, Dr Butts said that the experience will play a significant role in MOF’s deliberations when it comes to the allocations of funds. Adding that he had seen schoolchildren travelling along the Bartica-Potaro trail in the back of a pickup, their bodies mostly covered by a tarp to protect their school uniforms from red dust,. He said the trip had also allowed him to see how the roadway can seriously impact on the livelihoods of residents.

“What I’ve seen will allow us to make our conversations more wholesome. We were able to see what was on the ground but I know our conversations will be better informed; our words being used will not be disconnected. As you know, there will be competition for financing, but what I’ve seen will be taken into consideration,” Dr Butts stressed.

He added that his accompanying colleague, MoF Head of Regional Planning, Mr Miguel Cho Kang, will develop a schematic to chronicle the areas for attention noted during the trip.