Floodwater has receded enough to allow vehicular traffic between Lethem and Aishalton, Aishalton’s Toshao Michael Thomas has said.
Thomas spoke to Stabroek News yesterday and gave an update on the state of the access road, which he said requires immediate attention after a section was washed away by flash flooding.
“I came in from Aishalton last night and I am presently in Lethem. The situation remains the same but the level of water has dropped, allowing vehicles to pass now on a side way, but not on the main road,” he said, while noting that there has been no heavy rainfall over the last three days, which has resulted in the water level around the swampy areas to decrease significantly.
He said that he met with Region Nine Chairman Brian Allicock yesterday morning but did not receive any positive answer from him.
Thomas related that Allicock explained to him that he has since submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and up until yesterday, had not received any official communication or confirmation of the proposal.
“As it is, in the village today we have already tried to get some people to go down and try to pack boulders and see how we can make it easier for vehicles to pass on the road. Some vehicles are passing now and we have been able to transport foodstuff and everything is back to normal,” Thomas said.
However, given than the May-June rainy season has just started, Thomas said they expect at least three more months of intense rainfall and more flooding and damage as a result.
“This time the damage is very much wider and bigger for us to handle from a village level and it requires the region or ministry,” Thomas said.
He further explained that in his opinion, the condition of the road and its constant state of disrepair is as a result of engineering faults.
“Only concrete tubing should be built around the swampy area, and they also backfill and compact the approaches of the culvert which blocks the free flow of water. The large amounts of water accumulates and tries to find its way downwards and that is how it caused the breakage,” he said, while noting that if the backfilling is stopped and concrete bridges are built instead of concrete tubing, then the road would not face the same issues.
Allicock had also echoed similar sentiments and said that there was a need for concrete bridges to be built.
Thomas also said that instead of one, multiple concrete bridges should be built across the swampy areas to ensure better stability.
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure has said that it along with the Ministry of Natural Resources was assessing the damage done to the access road and that engineers were on the ground and working along with the Regional Executive Officer on a way forward.
Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman yesterday noted that they are working on some solutions and have exchanged information about new technology from Brazil to build culverts since they don’t want to apply a temporary fix to the problem, but a permanent one. “There are engineering companies in Guyana that have partnerships with Brazilian companies and we are exploring that,” Trotman said.
