Crop preparation creates major road problems

May 23, 2017 News

… Two road accidents recorded for month
Policymakers and other stakeholders on the Essequibo Coast are overly concerned about the safety and well-being of commuters and vehicular traffic, plying the Charity to Supenaam Public road.

Tractors traversing the road.

Concerns were raised at the RDC meeting following the increase in road fatalities, particularly over the past three months. A number of hazardous factors contributed to this increase in fatality. The RDC said that having a narrow road is one problem, however when the narrow road contains obstructions that are hazardous to one’s life, it becomes an even greater threat to road safety.
Just last month the lives of two motorcyclists were lost due to agricultural machinery and Lorries parked either on or near the road shoulders.
Recently another hazardous factor has emerged; rice farmers are riding their “dirt clogged” tractors onto the main roads. Whilst farmers view the practice as normal in Guyana other road users view it as an act of selfishness, since farmers aren’t the only drivers on the Essequibo Coast. Farmers would usually ride their tractors from their farms onto the main public road, these tractors in turn dispatch huge quantities of clay onto the main roadways, and the road surface then becomes even more hazardous when it begins to rain.
The situation has since resulted in two separate incidents involving motor vehicles losing control and running off the roadway.
According to the head of the Traffic Department Sargent Parks, just last week there was an accident involving a minibus which ran off the public road, Parks said it was raining when the driver of the minibus lost control on the muddy road and ran into a nearby yard. Though there was no fatality the driver still had to count his losses.
The Traffic Department has since demonstrated its readiness to curb the situation. Parks said that the department has been active using television to highlight the matter. He added that visits will be made to large farmers. Talks would also be done between with drivers and other stakeholders.

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