–rehabilitation of community’s lone access bridge being considered

FOR years, residents of Good Hope on the East Coast of Demerara have unavoidably traversed near impassable roads and the community’s lone access bridge, which has outlived its time, but there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for the over 2,000 residents, as plans are in place to rehabilitate critical infrastructure in the area.

The community’s main access road, Eleventh Street, Phase Two – First Street, and several interconnecting streets will be upgraded, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar said following a visit to the community on Saturday.
Not only is the existing infrastructure deplorable, but it is also archaic and much unlike the modern, asphalted roads found in communities not too far from Good Hope.

It is for this reason that Minister Indar committed to ensuring that the earthen roads are redone with asphalt, so as to create better conditions for commuters, who have faced the added burdens of vehicle repairs and, in some cases, physical injuries.
One project that residents are particularly interested in is the pending rehabilitation of the community’s lone access bridge, which has been utilised without repairs for about 15 years.

Consistent vehicular traffic into and out of the community has destroyed most of the critical links, leaving it to hang almost like a canopy walk in the rainforest.

In responding to concerns about the bridge, Minister Indar said that he will review possible ways of facilitating the rehabilitation of the bridge, since $112 million has already been allocated in Budget 2021 for bridge repairs countrywide.

“The one-way trafficked bridge that grants access is also set to undergo some restorative work. Anyone can imagine how coming into the community and getting out is difficult, especially during the mornings when everyone is trying to get to work or to get their children to school.
“That in itself is an issue that we plan to address in the future, but for now the bridge needs a bit of rehabilitative work and we are going to try to facilitate that,” Minister Indar assured residents.

HIDING PLACE
Further, he said that several residents have written to the Ministry of Public Works complaining about the dumping of derelict vehicles along the parapets of the community.
Residents lamented that those vehicles are sometimes used as a hiding place for rogue elements in

the community.

“I am asking residents if we can remove those vehicles, the NDC [Neighbourhood Democratic Council] chairman has written to all of them on numerous occasions to move out these vehicles and they are not doing so, I am asking residents to please comply with the local NDC.
“It is not fair to other residents to suffer because of the vehicles that are being placed there, it’s doing three things, it is harbouring water on the road and it is destroying the road and it’s providing an environment for criminals to hide and rob people and all that, and it is affecting the NDC’s ability to maintain the drains,” Minister Indar bemoaned.

Badrudeen Shaw, a resident of the area for over 10 years, said that the road has long been an eyesore and danger to residents of the community.
In relaying his concern to Minister Indar, Shaw said: “”The road has been bad a very long time since 2012, and they kept getting worse and all the residents are affected personally; it’s not just unhealthy but it’s also a danger.

“I get a granddaughter that living at the back, in the last street, she was getting a baby and because the road so bad taxi wasn’t going in there and a day she was walking coming out and slip and lost the baby, that’s how much the lives of the residents are affected here.”
Pensioner Sukdai Seepersaud echoed similar sentiments, but commended the government for promising to repair the infrastructure in the community.

“Our road in this area is like 10 to 15 years like that and getting worse. The minister’s commitment gave me a little bit of hope that we will have an area that is liveable and that we can be proud of and not have to be pressured during the rainy season, cause we would be able to move in and out without having to go through all those gorges and mud water and all that,” Seepersaud related.

Additionally, Julian Persaud, who raised several issues on behalf of her community, including the issue of crime, said that she is especially grateful that the road work would be beneficial to all members of the community, especially those persons with children.

“In this community, there are persons with vehicles and families with small children and it would be better for all of us because persons living here wouldn’t have to face added expenses of repairing their vehicles more than necessary, just because the road is bad, and I think that would make any of us happy.

“Not just the vehicle owners are going to benefit but also the persons who have children; a lot of the time when it rains and it’s a school day you see small children having to walk through that mud and dirty water and that’s very unhealthy,” Persaud said.