East Bank Berbice road and the audacity of hope

Sep 25, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
The residents of East Bank Berbice find themselves in a very unfortunate situation – one that threatens their very livelihoods. Indeed if I am not wrong, the impact on their livelihood has already been felt by many.
I refer in particular to the current state of the East Bank Berbice Road, which is one compared to none in the recent past. This critical piece of infrastructure is in a deplorable state.
Holes on this road carry all possible sizes with depth in excess of 14 inches. Canter trucks that are used to transport produce find it almost impossible to operate on this road, especially when they are loaded with thousands of pounds of perishable items.
Considering the importance of this piece of infrastructure not only to the residents within the areas covered by it but to Guyana’s economy, any model of public finance or cost benefit analysis would conclude and or recommend that immediate-attention is required. To understand this importance, consider the following facts.
From New Amsterdam to Mara is approximately 30 miles, of which there is one main access road that runs somewhat parallel to the Berbice River.
Along this road, it is safe to say that between New Amsterdam and Khadbraat (approx. 10 – 15 miles from New Amsterdam) 90 % of the East Bank Berbice population resides. This leaves us with 15 – 20 miles of road where the population is sparse.
What is important about these 15 – 20 miles of road? The answer is that all the villages along this section are predominantly farming communities, more specifically from Kaiwa to Mara (the last five miles of the said road).
Communities within and around this area supply over 90% of all ground provisions, citrus, fruits, vegetables and other cash crops to the New Amsterdam market and other small markets within proximity (e.g. Cumberland and Providence) and even to Port Mourant market – on a weekly basis, thousands of pounds of agricultural produce are supplied by these communities.
It is sad to say that these farmers seem to be having the worse of both worlds. Unprecedented levels of rainfall over the past couple of months have resulted in millions of dollars of losses of production, all of which are borne wholly and solely by farmers. Transporting the little that they have managed to protect and preserve is even a bigger anguish.
There is one minibus that operates this route (Mara – New Amsterdam) to transport passengers and more importantly students to school. The minibus operator has already reduced the frequency of his trips from once a day to twice a week, since some sections of the road are practically impassable for a minibus.
Clearly the problem of mobility here presents tremendous challenge on a daily basis for these residents.
This being said, it is therefore crystal clear that the East Bank Berbice Road is critical to the livelihood of thousands of households.
It becomes even more important if we are to consider its role in facilitating economic growth, infrastructural development and agricultural development especially in an era when food security and agricultural diversification are heavily promoted.
Over the past 18 months, various ministers of government and other officials from the regional administration have visited the area and have made several promises to address the situation.
To date nothing has been done and the closest thing to hope is another promise made by the regional chairman to spend some $16 million on a 30-odd mile road.
To echo the words of these poor residents, we are asking for President Bharrat Jagdeo himself to pay a visit to this area since often times there seems to be a breakdown of information reaching his desk.
These residents, for reasons not known to myself, have every hope that a visit by President Jagdeo and the promptness with which action often follows such visit would ease their suffering and in some way rekindle their hope of a decent existence.
Mr. President, the residents of East Bank Berbice, especially farmers living way up in Mara, are respectfully awaiting your presence.
Delco C Caine

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