Tapakuma to benefit from improved access road by year-end

Aug 03, 2018 News

A Section of the deteriorated hill top road, Tapakuma.”

After years of severe inconvenience, the residents of Tapakuma on the Essequibo Coast can finally sigh in relief, now that the construction of an improved access road was recently approved by the Ministry of Finance.
According to Regional Executive Officer, Rupert Hopkinson, the Region has decided to allocate $11M of its savings towards upgrading the Tapakuma Hill Top road.
The village of Tapakuma is located more than eight miles aback of the main land on the Essequibo Coast. Enveloped in dense forest, this small Amerindian Village is home to about 400 residents.
For years, however, an important access road leading into the community has been eroded. Located in a valley between two hills, the access road is often flooded when it rains. Constant flooding has eventually led to severe erosion, leaving a number of pointed rocks on the road’s surface.
The village Toshao, Aubrey Fradareks said on Wednesday, that the road has been an issue for quite some years. He explained that the former villager councils had made multiple representations in the past representations.
Kaieteur News understands that due to the severe deteriorations, school children also find it challenging to get to school. Since the pointed rocks on top of the hill penetrate the road’s surface, it becomes difficult for the David G school bus to access the community.
Toshao Fradareks explained, “Our children are living about a mile from here and so they have to get ready early in the morning, from about 5 o clock. The bus parks at the hill top; the children take about half hour to an hour to get out there. In the afternoon, they reach back about 5, so that is difficult for the children.”
The Toshao emphasized the need for quality work to be implemented; noting that inferior works had often contributed to deterioration in the past. The REO explained during a press conference last Friday; however, that the new hilltop road will be surfaced, unlike the many loam roads in the area.
Work, he said, is scheduled to commence shortly, and will be completed by year end.

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