Soesdyke/Linden Highway flooded despite millions recently spent to upgrade drainage

Dec 12, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – Mere months ago, the Government of Guyana paid millions to a contractor to rehabilitate sections of the Soesdkye/Linden Highway and increase its drainage capacity, but taxpayers who funded the project are still forced to drive in unacceptably high levels of water.
A concerned resident recently shared video and photographic evidence of the situation on the highway in the vicinity of Hillfoot, the same area that the Ministry claims work was done to boost drainage.

The situation on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.

Traffic was backed up for miles, as vehicles slowly maneuvered the water which is estimated to be at least 12 inches.
In a recent interview with Kaieteur News, a technical officer attached to the Ministry explained that some $150 million was spent to conduct sectional repairs to the highway and increase the drainage.
While the source did not specify what exactly was done to boost the drainage capacity, it was revealed that a five kilometre section of the thoroughfare was rehabilitated.
The roadway is the main access to the mining town of Linden and is frequented by laden trucks, tasked with supplying sand, lumber and other building materials. Due to these activities, paired with little to no maintenance, the highway has deteriorated over the years.
In this regard, the officer at the Ministry indicated to this newspaper that the works were conducted on the most critical sections, in need of urgent attention.
“Most of what we expended on that road went towards overlaying the first five kilometres of the highway because of age, weather, over loading of trucks and all these things, there are a lot of depressions there,” the source explained.
It was however noted that a section further up the highway was also identified for works as logging trucks had caused some damage there. The works were done between the first Hill and kilometre 9 and 10. It was executed by Japarts.
He was keen to note that the entire sum was utilised for the project.
The feasibility studies and designs for the Soesdyke/Linden Highway rehabilitation were completed by Beston SRKN’gineering Company, a consultancy firm contracted by the then Ministry of Public Infrastructure in January 2020, DPI reported.
The Soesdyke/Linden Highway has over the years been deteriorating, and not very much seems to have been done to maintain this stretch of road, which is vital in linking Linden and interior locations to Georgetown and the coastline of Guyana.
According to commuters, the stretch of road between the East Bank junction and Yarrowkabra has become sunken in many areas. “Waves” have started to appear on the surface of the once-good road.
Further along the highway, other pieces of the thoroughfare have also started to deteriorate in a similar fashion. These “imperfections” on the highway, coupled with the lack of street lights have been blamed for numerous accidents, some of which have been fatal.

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