Use oil money to address dangerous roads- Dr. Jerry Jailall

Dec 22, 2021 News

---

Kaieteur News – A Guyanese citizen, who resides in Canada, recently vented his frustrations about the state of Guyana’s main thoroughfares, describing the infrastructure as ‘abortion roads’ due to the ‘craters’ which he believes ought to be fixed with the country’s oil wealth.

The citizen, Dr. Jerry Jailall, in a letter to the editor of this newspaper said, “In my recent trip to Guyana, I was so abhorred by the atrocious condition of the roads. I had seen the pictures of new roads being built and thought there was widespread progress, but realised those were just “a drop in the bucket” given the massive road building needs all over the country”.
Dr. Jailall detailed that his journey from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), which is located at Timehri was quite a dangerous one, owing to the many dodges required to avoid the crater-sized potholes.
In fact, he said, he is ashamed that this road is the one used to welcome visitors to our great land, especially since the country now has so much of oil wealth.
“Drivers have to bob and weave, dodging holes so as not to fall in a bad hole and damage the rims, axles or damage the bottom of their vehicles. You
can hit other vehicles driving in that zigzag manner. But if you want to get where you are going, the situation requires such dangerous driving,” Dr. Jailall complained.
In fact, he urged “People need to start suing when their vehicles are damaged due to unmaintained roads that pose an ever-present danger to all road users. Many of our roads all over Guyana are religious – they are ‘holey’- and many are ‘abortion roads.’”
(‘Abortion road’ is a term coined to refer to a bad road that causes jerking when the vehicle travels and if it goes into a hole can induce an abortion for a pregnant woman in that vehicle).
Dr. Jailall said he was told by an engineer that some 80 percent of our roads are in a bad condition.
In this regard, Jailall pointed out that the roads from the East Coast to Rosignol, as well as from New Amsterdam to Crabwood Creek are lined with potholes.
“In the villages, almost all the roads need patching and/or paving and repaving. In my village of Whim, all our 32 roads and cross streets need paving. The Whim/Lancaster Road needs to be an all-weather farm-to-market road, as well as the Whim/Auchlyne Ketting Dam…the same for the road from Parika going to the St. Lawrence area,” he related.
But even though the country’s main thoroughfare, where the bulk of the taxpayers sit, is in the shameful state that it is, Government is forging ahead with its plans to spend US$190 million to rehabilitate the stretch of road from Linden to Mabura.
This matter was recently debated by the publisher of Kaieteur News, Mr. Glenn Lall.
Lall, during one of his radio programmes pointed out that Guyana borrowed US$47M to fix the West Coast of Demerara road, then a further US$45M to build the East Coast of Demerara Highway. It borrowed US$31M for the Sheriff Street and Mandela Avenue road; spent US$13M for the Eccles to Mandela Avenue; and approximately another US20M to be borrowed to connect Diamond to Eccles.
“So we talking about almost US$160M of borrowed money to fix some roads. Whether we get value for money – that’s another thing, but that’s not what I am talking about here.” He said borrowing US$160M to fix the West Coast, East Coast, Sheriff Street, Diamond to Mandela will ease a great burden on the people of this country, who use the roads every day, in and out the city.
“I applaud the government for doing things like that, but when you hear your government borrowing US$190M to upgrade Linden to Mabura Road, then one has to ask serious questions as to what is going on in this country with our lives,” Lall stated.
The newspaper publisher said, he is certain that the US$190M from the United Kingdom and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) can do Sheriff Street, Mandela Avenue, West Coast, East Coast, Diamond to Mandela. Then that US$190M can complete the East Coast, can complete the West Coast, can take Diamond to Timehri and if used in a more efficient manner, you can have a 4-lane to Crabwood Creek. “…But instead President Ali and Edghill and whoever is going to upgrade Linden/Mabura Road – you know what they are going to do. If they ever carry through with this project, the Chinese would get the work, the Chinese would put two bulldozers and grade one and two places for the next 10 years and 5 more US$190M will come out of your Treasury to go there – exactly what they are doing to each and every one of us with that CJIA project,” Lall said.
Lall believes that the Linden/Mabura road will be another ‘milking cow.’ He then questioned what the Linden/Lethem Road will contribute to this country. He said the US$190M can pay 38.7% increase to all public servants.

In December 2020, it was announced that the CDB, the Government of Guyana and the United Kingdom Government have partnered to fund this US$190 million project, for the upgrading of approximately 121km of road from Linden to Mabura Hill to an asphaltic concrete road that would improve the connectivity between Guyana’s hinterland and the coastal areas.
According to reports, the Bank is putting a US$112 million loan towards this project, the government is putting US$12 million, and the UK Government is putting US$66 million.

This project will represent the first phase of the much-hyped Linden/Lethem roadway, which would improve travel time to Brazil and connections to thousands of hinterland people.

---

---