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Rural public road upgrade on the island of Wakenaam

Jul 21, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor,

It was reported in the media on July 18, that the Minister in the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) visited the island of Wakenaam in the Essequibo River, to inspect and announce that the MPW has allocated $120 million to reconstruct two sections of the island’s public road, miles apart and will be using concrete as the principal construction material.
A photo accompanying the report showed the minister and other officials inspecting a section of the public road with several potholes filled with water and the shoulders overgrown with bananas and coconuts trees. It was evident that reconstruction of this section of the public road will require that the shoulders be cleared of the thick vegetation and graded to accommodate drains for the quick runoff of rainfall on the roadway, if its foundation is to be stabilised for the intended load. I was not privy to the specs and design for the upgrade for the two sections of public road on the island, but I expect good engineering practice to prevail in their reconstruction.
It is inconceivable that the MPW has specified that concrete, an expensive construction material will be used to upgrade a rural public road on the island of Wakenaam, when cheaper road building materials could be obtained locally and utilised to achieve the desired objectives. Concrete is rarely used worldwide for road construction because of its high construction and maintenance costs.
Finally as reported, the minister stated that two one-kilometre sections of the island’s estimated 30 kilometres of public road have been selected for upgrade using concrete. He claimed that the proposed modest road upgrade would significantly improve the standard of living of the islanders, as well as provide them with opportunities for better commerce and innovation. These are laudable goals, but given the other constraints to development on the island of Wakenaam due to poor river transportation and berthing facilities, as well as inadequate drainage and irrigation for their farmlands, these pronouncements by the minister could pertinently be considered as just pipe dreams.

Yours truly,
Charles Sohan

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