For years residents have been traversing a deplorable branch road at Mahaica and as it continues to deteriorate they are calling for it to be fixed urgently fearing that soon they would have nowhere to drive.
According to a resident of Supply, Mahaica, Azad Karim, it takes a long time to drive through the potholed road which is causing serious damage to vehicles.
He said during heavy rainfall “it is even worse because some parts of the road are flooded and you cannot even pass with your vehicles.”
Karim, a re-migrant said too that another section of the road that is in an appalling condition is at Vereeniging. He said a school is located nearby and the children are having difficulty walking on the road especially when the drivers have to dodge the potholes.
He said too that “this is one of the busiest branch roads; it is used daily by a number of hire cars drivers who go up to the Cane Grove area.”
Further, he said a rice mill is located at Cane Grove and heavy-duty vehicles also use the road often, causing it to be damaged more.
He questioned why the road was not fixed before it reached this stage and said “it would cost more money for them to rebuild it now.”
Karim told this newspaper he contacted the Ministry of Public Works and was told that they would visit the area to have a look at the road. He is not sure if any visit was made but said that he was also referred to a Mr. Goring but had never gotten on to him.
Further, a few hire car drivers told this newspaper that because of the huge potholes they have to spend a lot of money at the workshops to repair their vehicles. They also have to keep purchasing parts such as shocks and bushings and said “right now we spending more than we making.”
They also said that it is difficult to drive on the road, which is also very narrow when they have to manoeuvre around the potholes and at the same time avoid “knocking down” pedestrians.
