Residents of Owen Street, Kitty, are calling on the relevant authorities to fix their deplorable road, which has been in an “unacceptable” state for more than a decade.
When Stabroek News visited the area yesterday, almost the entire length of the street, from end to end was littered with extremely large potholes. It was almost impossible for vehicles to pass through the rugged terrain unless the vehicle was carefully manoeuvred through or away from the large holes.
Some of the potholes were also filled with water, which posed another problem for vehicles traversing the street.
According to one of the residents, Dereck (only name given), the road has been in this deplorable condition for more than 15 years. “It has been like that for more than 15 years. There are no street lights, the street floods very easily and no proper drainage,” the man explained.
He related that when the place is dry and vehicles pass through, they kick up dust from the crushed bricks in the potholes that greatly affect all of the residents, especially the numerous children. “I have my two-year-old grandson, and he has a cold because of the dust,” he said.
The man added that even taxi drivers are reluctant to use the roads and when they choose to do so, they would usually increase their fares. “We [residents] try to fix it with bricks and what’s not, but what can we do? It needs to be graded and capped over completely,” he said.
Another resident highlighted that it is impossible to avoid the holes since they are at both ends. “It’s everyone being affected because they are there from the starting. It’s impossible for you to avoid them with your car. So you have no choice but to drive through them and damage your vehicles,” the man said, pointing out that all the residents who drive are forced to bear additional costs for the maintenance of their vehicles.
“You see dem holes size? One drop-in and you feel your car crying. And you always got some issue with your tyres or shocks or suspension,” another resident interjected.
According to the residents, the potholes become “sea-like” after rainfall since the area floods easily. Dereck emphasized that most of the drains are clogged, resulting in frequent accumulation of water on the land which then takes very long to recede.
During Stabroek News’ visit yesterday, one of the large potholes was completely inundated and two vehicles were seen carefully manoeuvring through in order to pass. However, the road is so badly damaged that one of the vehicles had to pull over to one side of the street for the other to pass easily.
“This place has been neglected for a very long time. A very, very long time and all we want is for them to fix the road because nighttime it’s hard to see these giant holes because the place doesn’t have lights either. Is just one thing compounded on the next when it comes to this area. It’s neglected and we need for it to be finally fixed,” the residents lamented.
