-to address residents’ concerns about delinquent drivers

ACKNOWLEDGING the concerns of residents with regard to the discomfort caused by errant truck drivers, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has disclosed that the government will engage several contractors and other stakeholders to find solutions to the recurring complaints of excessive speeding near major construction sites.

“We have to find solutions. Speed humps, traffic lights, more police presence in these areas, cameras to watch them. We’re rolling out some more cameras so you can observe this,” Dr. Jagdeo said at a news conference last week.

He noted that the public works ministry has been advised to engage with contractors and residents.

The need for roads to be properly asphalted and maintained to reduce dust and discomfort for residents during the construction phase was also discussed, highlighting the balance between infrastructural development and community well-being.

It was reported in sections of the local media that residents along the East Bank corridor and some communities in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) have complained bitterly about the discomfort caused by speeding truck drivers.

In some communities, residents had temporarily blocked roads.

It was also reported that there were many errant drivers who have been using smaller community streets to traverse, instead of the main access roads that were constructed to facilitate traversing to and from some major construction sites.

Only recently, Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill had laid out several guidelines to manage the movement of trucks on the nation’s roadways.

He did so during a meeting with truck drivers and members of the Guyana Police Force Traffic Department.

Among the changes going forward, the minister said, is that persons will not be allowed to operate a motorised vehicle for excessive hours.

He told both owners and drivers that they need to ensure a mechanism is in place for drivers to get adequate rest in between long periods on the road.

Besides noting that violations will not be tolerated, Minister Edghill said that all loam, sand pit, and quarry owners will be engaged through the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) which licenses these operators, with regard to the weight of trucks leaving their mines.

Among the other areas the police will be clamping down on are uncovered trucks responsible for sand and stone spillage on the roadways; trucks transporting mud and slush dirtying the roadways and endangering other road users and drivers parking or driving on the road shoulders and causing damage.