Damage to Aishalton main access road being assessed

– Govt promises relief to residents soon

One day after it was reported that the main access road to Aishalton from Lethem, Region Nine, was cut off to residents due to the flash flooding over the weekend, the Public Infrastructure Ministry related that they were working assiduously to assess and evaluate the damage.
As such, the residents of Aishalton were asked to remain patient as regional engineers consult with the Regional Executive Officer (REO) on the way forward.
“The Ministry of Public Infrastructure along with the Ministry of Natural Resources understand the importance of this access road to the livelihood of the residents in and around Aishalton and jointly, the Ministries will ensure that the road will become passable in a short while. We deeply regret any inconveniences caused by this unforeseen event,” the statement added.
The main access road connecting two major indigenous communities – Lethem and Aishalton – has been completely cut off as the rainy season has only just begun.
Toshao of Aishalton, Michael Thomas on Monday told Guyana Times that a particular location, some 12 miles from his village, is in a deplorable state and in dire need of emergency repairs.
The damage, he added, has cut off all vehicles travelling from Lethem to Aishalton, as well as seven other surrounding villages.
The alternative route requires an additional 60 miles of driving. As a result of this destruction, fuel supply to the communities has decreased, the Toshao said.
The situation is expected to worsen, as June month is the peak of the rainy season, which lasts until August in those areas.
The location began eroding two years ago due to the rainy season, but this time around, the damage is greater. According to the Toshao, the hole in the road is two metres deep and it has become. Additionally, the culverts have broken in half.
Toshao Thomas explained that in 2017, the village received assistance from the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) to fix the road, and last year, help was provided by the Brazilian Army which was in Guyana to drill wells in the Rupununi.
This time around, the Toshao believes assistance from Central Government may be required.
Minibus operators are even complaining of the deplorable state of the Linden-Lethem road, describing it as a “death trap”.
The bus operators who reached out to Guyana Times on Sunday described the trail as a “death trap” and bashed the Public Infrastructure Ministry for paying zero interest in conducting long-term repairs to that trail which is the only access to those areas.

The trail has been in a deteriorated state for years and worsens during the rainy seasons after which minor substandard repairs are done on certain patches and the problem continues to recur.
A route 72 bus driver, Keith Daniels, on Sunday told Guyana Times that he was forced to park his minibus due to the condition of the road since the risk of making a trip is way more than the gains.
“To be honest, since Wednesday I ain’t make a trip. The last trip I make last week I had to come and take my bus to the mechanic and spend a set of money which I didn’t even make. This trail just getting bad to worse. Destroying people bus.
“The Government need to do better than what they are doing. The small man punishing in this place. You struggling to get load to go up and when you do, you are faced with that trash for a road. We got families to feed and we gotta pay mortgage and even pay for the same bus that destroying in that mud. This could be fair,” he argued.