DRIVERS of Route 94 (Georgetown to Lethem) minibuses are high in praise of recent repairs done to the Linden to Lethem trail just in time for the rush from the Rupununi Rodeo, which was held over the Easter weekend.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of Public Infrastructure did maintenance work to the trail in February, particularly the section from the Mabura Police Station to the Kurupukari Crossing on the Essequibo River, which had significantly deteriorated.
Earlier this year, drivers had complained of the strain to traverse the trail. The Ministry of Natural Resources had explained that the Linden-Lethem rehabilitative road works were being carried out by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission; however, inclement weather continued to stall the work, while continuous misuse of the road was also an issue hindering development.
Nonetheless, the ministries stepped in to repair the road and ease the burden on the drivers. So it was a relief to many of the drivers transporting passengers for the Easter weekend, knowing that the trail was repaired for a usually busy time.
“Right now, it [repairs] still going on, but it [the trail] alright, and I feel real relieved, because you reaching in good time and you ain’t getting so much harassment with the road and so on,” related David Hendriques.
“It was very, very rough before the repairs; sometimes you stay whole day on the trail, [because] a big truck block up the road [and] you can’t pass. Everybody got to use the road, and sometimes the big trucks would be transporting lumber from the forest to Georgetown, and they stick up or they break down in the hole in the bad spot, and then you can’t get to pass; you have to wait ‘til somebody come and take them out,” he said.
Ray Luckhoo, 48, who has been driving the Georgetown-Lethem route for the past 10 years, was thankful for the repairs to the trail, pointing out that it is now in the best shape for the first time in years.
“It far easy now; you doing better timings and them thing now. Where you used to reach in late, now you reaching in early; we would get in from like 9 o’clock [in the morning],” Luckhoo shared. He noted that before the repairs, drivers travelling from Georgetown would not get to Lethem until late in the afternoon.
He said at its worst, traversing from Georgetown to Lethem could take as much as 24 hours, because of how bad the trail was, which was the case when he first began as a driver.
His sentiments were echoed by Javon Torres, 26, who has been working as a Georgetown-to-Lethem driver for the past two years.
“It’s better; it’s better by far. There’s been a lot of improvements; quite a lot. It was terrible when I first started, because first you used to take like 18 hours; now you take like 12,” Torres said.
Government intends to convert the dirt trail into a paved road.
