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Flood waters swamp Barabina Road
…despite $130M spent on upgrade this year
Kaieteur News – Despite millions spent on rehabilitation works this year, the problematic Barabina Road at the town of Mabaruma, Region One is once again impassable as flood waters have taken over low-lying sections of the roadway.
“The road is in a very bad condition. We are cut off once more,” a resident of the hill-top community of Barabina Hill told Kaieteur News on Thursday.
Over 480 residents who reside at the community are affected by the ongoing situation as they are forced to brave through the slushy roadway this week, a situation they have grown accustomed to for more than a decade.
Reports are that the Mabaruma town council upgraded the roadway earlier this year. However, recent rainfall has resulted in sections of the road being inundated.
Last August, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill announced that a $130M contract was signed for the rehabilitation of the road. He said at the time that works would commence shortly after his announcement.
A motorist attempts to cross an inundated section of the Barabina Road at the town of Mabaruma this week.
However, Opposition Member of Parliament, Ronald Cox noted in January this year that no works were undertaken on the roadway despite the promises of the Public Works Minister who had inspected the roadway last August when he announced the multi-million dollar upgrade.
A move to replace a wooden bridge with a concrete structure at the nearby Kumaka Junction some two decades ago was said to be the root cause of the road woes at Barabina.
At the time, water from the Barabina Creek flowed freely under the wooden bridge and into the nearby Aruka River via connecting trenches.
The concrete bridge was built with no conduit for the water to flow and this resulted in water being backed-up and gradually swamped the lower section of the roadway near Barabina.
As such, the water eventually damaged the foundation of the roadway.
A walkway was then built for residents to walk alongside the swampy road for years. The situation was remedied late in 2018 when a contractor built the roadway adjacent to the swamp and motorists were able to drive to the community from Mabaruma after many years.
However, residents noted that heavy rainfall coupled with no maintenance has resulted in the roadway being flooded once more.
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