Festive trips for Providence residents to be bumpy

Dashing home for the holidays will be a bumpy ride for residents of one of the country’s largest housing schemes. The residents and motorists alike have decried the deplorable state of the community’s main access road and several secondary road networks.
They are hopeful that the thoroughfares will be fixed by the end of this month or early in 2023.
Residents of Block III Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD), explained that the state of the roads is not only an eye sore but has and continues to cause damage to their vehicles.
The unusual December rains have made a bad situation worse. Residents are praying that it does not rain over the long Christmas weekend, because if it does, the deep potholes will be filled with water.

Apart from the frequent damage to their vehicles, the residents complained that whenever it rains heavily, they would have to use long boots to navigate the streets due to the large pools of water. Some motorists have even refused to drive through the streets to drop off passengers.
One resident said not a day would go by without she and her husband experiencing one issue or another that has to do with the condition of the roads.
“Is one thing after the next. This street got some big, big holes and when it rains hard, this street does look like a river. Me and my husband have to be spending money steadily to repair our vehicles because they are being damaged by this disastrous road,” the woman cried.
She added, “We just want the authorities to know that human beings living through this street and the least they could do for us is give us proper roads to access our community.”
According to another woman, who has been living in the community for a little over one year, this has been the state of the roads ever since she moved there. “How long more do we have to put up with this? We need urgent help here; these roads have gone from bad to worse.”
A father of four who works short-drop taxis through Red Road, Providence, related that he has refused to transport passengers, even if they are paying extra, through certain streets, including Block III, because of the deplorable condition they are in.
“The fare is $160, some of them might give you an extra $100 to carry them in the streets. But I don’t go in some of them streets because I gon have to pay more than $260 to repair my car. This street here, bad, bad. None of them car man doesn’t guh through deh.” Meanwhile, another resident who gave her name as Vilencia Josiah disclosed that heavy trucks often traverse the street to transport sand and other construction materials because a lot of houses are being built. She said there is also a lot in the street where “bush trucks” go to collect and drop off items. (G1)