Dilapidated 63 Beach Entrance Road an embarrassment

Feb 08, 2012 Letters

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Dear Editor,
An embarrassment to the country, the 63 beach and the government is the dilapidated 63 beach entrance road that exists. The rain has been falling non stop for a few weeks now and you can imagine the chaos the beach entrance road is in.
The enormous moon crater potholes that exists with large ponds of water contained in them not only splashing vehicles but drowning them making you feel your on a journey to nowhere whereas people are suppose to feel comfortable and jolly on their way entering 63 beach not coming home with (nara) i.e. stomach cramps.
Do you think this is a fair way of entering a beach? Do you think people would want to revisit the beach, especially tourists who do frequently show up unexpectedly on Sundays, would they recommend this tourism destination to their friends while it is a beautiful one but has the worst road leading to it?? What I can’t imagine is that people are only talking about this in public gatherings but are not addressing it to the media and government officials. Why am I the only person crying out here? I can recall writing many letters to the government concerning this beach entrance road and I never got a response to a letter by writing or by getting a new road. Also, I can’t believe some government people, when visiting the beach act as if nothing is wrong diving in and out of the ditches with their 4×4 trucks / jeeps etc. It is the local people who suffer i.e. the fishing people have to walk through these muddy large ponds to get fish for you at the market and poor people who reside in this area visit their beach by bicycle or foot and have to pass through this distress.
I am sure most of you who follow up my articles know of an issue last year that I was pressuring the tourism ministry who collected $10M, to develop this road instead of squandering the money on other wasteful things that could not benefit the public like a prominent road. Access is a main key figure towards a business. Common sense can tell you that. Since the 63 beach is considered an international tourism destination and people flock this hot spot on Sundays and come in droves on national holidays especially the traditional 63 beach Easter Monday fete and Augusts’ Emancipation Day, why not establish a durable access road to keep on attracting guests to this No. 1 tourist recreational beach that locals and foreigners look forward to visiting every Sunday??? Since climate change is ongoing it seems as if we are stepping into a rainy season “La Nina” and necessary precautions as in building this vital road should happen immediately to prevent visitors from running away from Guyana’s most popular tourism hot spot.
The Solutions to this issue are very obvious. The government can simply invest in this road then squander money on unnecessary areas like building a powerful road for a woman in my area who is known as a PPP loyalist, a miss “Bossy” and its like she controls the area i.e. whatever she says goes. The beach is a neutral public place and must be taken into consideration since various races and different party members use it as well and should not be biased.
The government is always complaining they never have money to do this vital public work i.e. rehabilitating 63 beach entrance road but how come money was wasted on stinky washrooms on the beach that are not being serviced and are now abandoned? If the government really doesn’t have money to make the 63 beach entrance road, I suggest that they ask the big beverage giants that display how much billions they make in the newspaper every year, to contribute towards this investment since they too can’t wait to sell on the beach on grand public holidays i.e. Easter Monday and Emancipation day.
Not only is the beach entrance road in a disaster and needs drastic measures to be taken but as well on the beach now also has another set of deep ditches waiting to swallow up vehicles with their murky waters. I recommend here that an inland road should be made to aid visitors when high tide is on or vast flood waters from rain or sea is around, if the local authority NDC No.52 -74, refuses to fill these large empty areas with red brick, asphalt etc. An inland road on the beach is a great idea of aiding visitors by making a path leading to the facilities on the beach through the abandoned watermelon garden areas leaving the small dunes alongside of this new path as a defense.
I must conclude these are some great thoughts that come to mind and should not be ignored but put into action. We must sustain our tourism standards in Guyana to seek progress and the tremendous benefits in return.
Ebony Narpatty (Brijbassi)

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