After years of complaints, residents of Parfaite Harmonie on the West Bank of Demerara are being assured that contracts for the main access road will be tendered soon and the much-needed rehabilitation works will commence in the coming months.
Some $3 billion was allotted to the Ministry of Public Works’ miscellaneous roads programme last week. These monies will fund the construction of the roads within several West Bank Demerara communities.
Speaking with the News Room on Monday, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar said the roads get the needed upgrades soon.
“Some of the main areas, like the main access road, by the two schools and in First Avenue where it’s like massive failures in the road.
“It is about ten roads in total we are going out to tender for those shortly, maybe in two or three days,” Indar explained.
Further, the minister said, “In the meanwhile what we have done is send some crusher run to fill those holes on the roads, in the meanwhile while we’re doing the procurement.”
The roads in the community are riddled with huge holes that become filled with water when it rains, making it difficult for people to traverse whether by foot or by vehicle.
The state of the roads in the community have progressively worsened over time. The depletion continued for some time as no major works were done.
In July, Indar visited the community where he observed the situation. During his visit, he assured residents that the main access road will be prioritised.
Just last week, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said that the ministry will engage residents to know which roads within communities are most affected for them to be fixed. At the time he also promised that the government intends to construct roads in every community.
