While PNC gave themselves 50% raises and support fat cats in cushy govt jobs, the nation's infrastructure continues to fall apart.
Drivers strike over state of Coomacka access road, bridges
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– will not work until situation is rectified
Drivers operating in several mining areas across Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) on Monday morning staged a strike to highlight the deplorable condition of the Coomacka access road.
They were joined by schoolchildren and residents from areas including Coomacka, Three Friends, Nottinghamshire, Old England and Yaribo, at Coomacka where their issues were brought to the fore.
Residents also voiced their concerns with regard to the dilapidated state of the road and bridges (one at Coomacka and two at Three Friends). They alleged that they were being neglected by Government, as their concerns have been raised in the media and raised by a Councillor at the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), and despite this, the situation remained unchanged.
They also spoke about the school bus that was gifted to the community under the President’s 5Bs initiative, which has not been operable since it was handed over a few months ago.
Many are also casting blame on the RDC, as they claim representatives inspected the road a few times and nothing tangible resulted. One driver, David Adams explained that it was very costly to conduct repairs to his vehicle, given the state of the roadway. He opined that since the road has been neglected by Government and regional authorities, monies for rehab work should be handed over to members of the community to conduct repairs.
“If the Government don’t want to do it, then give us the money and we will elect a body to look after our road. We are getting the short end of the development…,” Adams stated.
Many persons pointed to the high cost for repairs and vowed not to use the road until the RDC or Government rectified the situation.
“As the owner of a private vehicle it cost me $120,000 just to fix my bottom end last week, and this is ridiculous. It is forcing people to move out of the community. And I know it have other private owners that are suffering same way like I do. I know this is one of the things that the Government is going to want to bring up – that we have issues with land and everything else. But that doesn’t mean that a road coming from Linden directly to Coomacka where we have the first Coomacka School, we can have it up to there [cannot be done], as well as going to Yaribo, Three Friends because those are the areas that we have to go to,” Adams continued.
Minibus operator Robert Gentle also expressed frustration over the state of the road.
“The reason for this action here this morning is as a direct result of the road. One hundred years of bauxite mining in this country since last year. Now after one hundred years of bauxite mining, persons who are affected by the extraction of this mineral have no modern convenience. Our road is so terrible that it takes an hour and odd minutes to meet to Linden,” he noted.
Speaking with this publication, one resident explained that some of the affected schoolchildren are preparing to sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations, while some have School Based Assessments (SBAs) to submit this week. Drivers plan to continue with the strike action today.
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