Tricky trek as limited traffic resumes on Linden/Lethem road

Limited vehicular traffic has resumed along the Linden/Lethem road with passengers forced to trudge through thick sludge at some sections and with boats pressed into operation.

Travellers between Region Nine and the Coastland have been trudging through approximately 12 miles of an impassable section of the trail even as Works Ministry officials are working to fix sections of the roadway, this newspaper was told yesterday. The treacherous sections of the 276 miles long Linden/Lethem roadway are in the vicinity of an area known as Cork Wood- located several miles north of Annai; and a 12 miles section along the Hunt Oil stretch, between Annai and Lethem.

Stabroek News was told that road works are being hampered by intermittent heavy showers and the firm contracted to fix the road has allowed persons travelling to and from the region by minibus to traverse the road up to the impassable sections close to the Hunt Oil area.

At that location, passengers would disembark and walk through thick slush, a passenger who recently travelled to Lethem told Stabroek News yesterday. According to him, this distance “takes a while” to trek as passengers would have to navigate the “good parts” of the road.

At the same time boats have been a new feature at the location, shuttling passengers and baggage across the flooded savannah along the road. Two passengers who travelled to Georgetown from the area told this newspaper that they departed Lethem around 4am on Wednesday and arrived in the city around 7 am yesterday.

The distance between Annai and Lethem is approximately 76 miles and this takes about one and a half hours to traverse during normal conditions by bus. However as the on-going situation persists, the distance takes as much as 13 hours, the Hunt Oil location being the section of the trail which takes up most of the time.

The road has been graded a number of times over the past two decades and persons in the region said that a new, all-weather road should be contemplated by the authorities as the area is being transformed into a trading hub with the opening of the Takutu Bridge.

Meanwhile, at Cork Wood, which is located close to the Iwokrama Rainforest Reserve, a tractor was on standby over the past three days to pull minibuses traversing the road through the impassable sections. According to some persons in Region Nine, the buses are being pulled through almost four feet of thick slush. The contractors are hoping for a change in weather patterns for works to be completed there and it was noted that while repairs were effected to sections of the road, those areas were covered with water yesterday.

The Ministry of Public Works had sought the army’s help to keep trucks off sections of the trail as engineers battle the weather to repair areas that were washed away by heavy rains.  Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn said last week that trucks had failed to heed a request not to traverse the savannah section of the trail between Kurupukari and Lethem and this led to deep ruts being created in areas that were about a foot under water.