…residents blame contractor for shoddy work
A section of the roadway which leads to the village of St Cuthbert’s Mission off the Linden Soesdyke Highway washed away under intense rainfall on Wednesday.
Reports are that the roadway’s strength was threatened over the past several days as persistent rainfall swamped the savannah landscape. On Wednesday, the roadway collapsed, some eight miles out from the village at a point called ‘Two Brothers.’
The incident forced motorists to look on helplessly as the water gushed through the opening along the roadway. ”The contractor keeps saying he can’t do anything during the rainy season,” a furious resident noted on Wednesday.
The contractor has been tasked with maintaining the roadway over the years and reports are he has informed residents that nothing much can be done to prevent the road from crumbling under flood waters.
For years the section of the roadway has been threatened by rainfall. Back in 2013, a section of the roadway washed away under heavy rains.
Various areas across all ten administrative regions of the country experienced heavy rainfall in recent weeks which has resulted in flooding; some parts of the country has experienced inundation never seen in recent years.
On Wednesday , residents living at the business community of Kumaka in the Mabaruma sub-region woke up to flooded yards while multiple farms were destroyed by the flood waters. A section of the Kumaka Stretch was also under water . The rains were pounding the area during the night on Tuesday and residents said the rainfall continued into Wednesday morning.
The village of Massara in the North Rupununi was also under water on Wednesday . The level of the water on the land near the village was rising sharply and with continuous rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday, sections of the roadway linking the village to the highway connecting Lethem to Georgetown was flooded. The town of Bartica and its environs was also under water on Wednesday and persons there noted that it was the first time they experienced such flooding.
According to the Hydromet Office, showers of varying intensities, frequent rain and thundershowers was forecast for Wednesday across the Hinterland and come coastal areas. The department also noted that similar conditions are expected on Thursday and Friday.
