Some weeks ago, the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) issued an advisory that they would be conducting pipe-laying exercises in certain areas and so citizens were prepared for some amount of inconvenience.
What citizens in these areas were not prepared for was the extent of the inconvenience. The roads have been broken and dug and filled with sand and sifting. Loads of sand have been dumped at intervals along the parapets. Excavators have dug up and placed huge piles of mud and dirt on the roads and parapets. All this adds up to a terrific amount of sand, dust and dried mud on the roadways which now resemble a rural backdam more than a city street. When vehicles pass through the streets, clouds of dust, sand and dried mud are swept into yards, homes and vehicles.
Before the digging commenced, the workers, who are employees of the sub-contractor, Nabi and Sons, engaged in a road-cutting exercise with a huge machine which can best be described as a giant angle-grinder.
This machine has no shield on it and as the machine cuts into the road, clouds of dust and particles are sent flying twenty to thirty feet away.
The parapets on both sides of the road have been left badly damaged with huge piles of excess and waste material which will prevent the rainwater from flowing into the drains. In addition, the huge tyres of the trucks and the heavy-duty equipment have left craters in the parapets and it is now impossible for cars to be parked there.
This awful situation is evident in Quamina Street, South Cummingsburg and New Market Street, North Cummingsburg and Barrack Street, Kingston where road works were recently done. Owing to the fact that three to four feet of road have been dug up and not repaired, the streets have become very narrow resulting in vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians competing for the limited space available.
There is also a danger as the sand and sifting are worn away from the roads that were dug up, a ‘drop’ is left and vehicles have to be particularly careful. For example, driving south on Carmichael Street, as you reach the intersection with Quamina Street which was dug up and replaced with sand, there is a distinct ‘drop’ in the road there and that poses a grave danger to road users.
During this exercise, the bridges of some citizens have been broken to accommodate the works. The GWI has not advised citizens whether these bridges will be repaired by them.
There was a time when such works on the roads would be preceded by trucks with water sprinklers to minimize the inconvenience to citizens. This is no longer done and is further evidence of the continuing disregard for the welfare of citizens.
Throughout all of this, there is no word from the GWI, the Ministry of Works or the Mayor and City Council as to whether the streets and parapets damaged by the GWI pipe-laying exercise will be swept, cleared and re-surfaced.
In the very same way that an initial advisory was given to the public that there would be a pipe-laying exercise in certain areas, citizens expect that there would be follow-up advisories on what measures would be taken to fix the roads and parapets and remove the excess sand and earth.
As the inconvenience to citizens continues, there are no personnel from GWI, the Ministry of Works or the Mayor and City Council to overlook the project and to understand the tremendous inconvenience citizens have to put up with.
In the meanwhile, citizens living in these areas or traversing the streets there suffer a great deal of unnecessary hardship.
Yours faithfully,
F Williams
