4 months later, still no repairs

Industrial Site roads

BY RAMONA LUTHI

Four months after the Mayor and City Council’s (M&CC) Town Clerk, Royston King promised that construction on the roads in Ruimveldt Industrial Site would commence soon, no work has yet begun.

In early April of this year, King had the M&CC workers dismantle illegal structures and other encumbrances from around the Industrial Site, which he said were contributing to the deterioration of the roads.

The M&CC then issued a 48-hour ultimatum for businesses in the area to voluntarily remove illegal structures on the reserves; however, that ultimatum was seemingly ignored, resulting in Council workers swooping down on the area, armed with heavy-duty equipment and blow torches. They proceeded to dismantle the structures and removed containers that were wantonly parked.

King, who was present on site at the time, reiterated that the Council was there “to remove these materials from the Council’s space”.

He had explained that the “carelessly-parked” containers were dangerous to persons who used the area, including children of a nearby daycare centre.

On that same day, the encumbrances, including a number of abandoned heavy-duty equipment, were dismantled and transported to the Princes Street compound of the M&CC, while excavators removed the containers.

The Town Clerk had pointed out that these areas such as the ‘island’ are illegally fenced by businessmen who use the space for their personal benefit, describing this act as “unfair to other businesses in the area.”

The roads in the Industrial Site area have been in poor conditions for many years, leading to damages of numerous vehicles that are compelled to traverse the area daily.

Businesses within the very area have expressed frustration over the deplorable conditions of the roads, with some of them citing customers’ reluctance to visit their establishments due to the impassable roads.

The affected manufacturers have complained that the maintenance cost to upkeep their fleet of vehicles traversing the area daily has risen exponentially due to damages caused as a result of the bad roads.

Several business entities, told Guyana Times that they had lobbied City Council and the previous Administration for years but to no avail, for the roads to be rehabilitated. Efforts to retrieve a comment on this issue from the Town Clerk were unsuccessful.