The Corentyne Highway

Dec 09, 2025 Letters

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Dear Editor,

I passed through the Corentyne, meeting with relatives and friends and was listening to the concerns of people, wondering what will happen to their home and the new road under construction.

Most people over the years have built their homes and levelled their yards to the level of the roadway. They build beautiful homes and driveways that are compatible with both their yard and the road. Some residents have a nice front yard, and others are aspiring the same as the country is developing, as they are having an extra income. Only to find out that their government and politicians, in the name of development, are making decisions to put those trucks and traffic 10 feet or less in their yard.

It is important to note that those who are making these decisions are not living in the area where these constructions are happening. They are living in affluent neighbourhoods. Everyone is aware that the road needs to be widened a little but not to the extent or to the height where the drain is being constructed. The road would be extended to the drain in width and heights to level of the slots are at the top of the drain wall. Four feet on top of the drain, fitted with Lago type pave will be the walkway (the walkway will be on top of the drain). Also, the wall of the drain in many cases is 14 inches or more above the present level of the road. This would mean that those who have already built their yard and their driveway will now find their yard level about 35° below that of the road. Furthermore, all the front yards will be taken away. It is important to note that the Corentyne highway was never flooded in all its history, and the question remain “why the drains and road must be so high. This will put in place The Great Wall in front of everyone’s yard.

The contractor on the other hand has their quantities already approved and will want to use all of it without discretion to collect all the contract sum and not measured work. No one is consulting with the residents who must live with that travesty. Based on what the residents are saying, they need a little more road, a walkway parapet and a drain that is level at the bottom of their fence gates and not what is being done there.

There are business establishments that need their bridge to be wide and some as wide as the width of their lots to carry out their business. The contractor is constructing an 8 feet driveway and the rest of the drain is elevated to 14 inches or more above the level of your present perfect yard and driveway. Over the years, people have built their homes 10 feet height from their bottom house.

With the height of this drain and road, everyone will find themselves in a yard sunken 24 inches or more below and no one will be able to do anything about it to elevate their homes and be able to fill their yard to compensate for the heightened road. No one wants to live in a ditch. In other countries yards are a few inches above the road. You must ask yourself what these decision makers think of you. The kind of highway they are thinking about is not our present highway but a new highway somewhere at the back.

Before it’s too late, the residence and the business community need to consult with the politicians both the ruling and opposition, and the contractor in public forum and have a discussion to say at the road doesn’t need to be heightened more than an inch or 2 because it was never flooded before and the drains don’t need to be of that height since every village has a sideline at different level.

Also, you don’t need a cover on the drain except for businesses who need their front yard as the driveway and parking. The people need their walkway on the parapet at the side of the highway and not over the drain. If the government wants to serve its people, they must understand that the people have a voice. Lots of people don’t know the amount of power in their voice. I understand that in some cases, there are very small parapets but there are places, for example from Bush Lot Farm to Brighton Farm on the southern side, the drain doesn’t have to be that high. What the people in that area need is the widening road, a walkway parapet an inch or two below the road, a drain two inches below the level walkway and a front yard. They don’t need a Lago walkway above the drain.

Liaison of all the political parties in collaboration with the people must make the right decision taking into consideration that this infrastructure will affect us now and the future generation for the next few centuries. This project needs to go back to the drawing board to make it right.

David Singh

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• Construction, Corentyne, David Singh, generation, Government

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