The Itaballi-Puruni Road, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) remains in a deplorable state weeks after miners and other business operators complained of not being able to reach the mining areas to work.
The deteriorated state of the Itaballi-Puruni Road, which miners are forced to endure in seeking their livelihood
This road, which is the gateway to Guyana’s mining sector, sees thousands of persons traversing on a daily basis to get into various backdams to mine.
The Itaballi-Puruni Road is the main thoroughfare used by persons in accessing the gold mining districts of Puruni Number 3, Cuyuni Number 4, and the Middle Mazaruni area, Region Seven from the Papishou Landing. The Puruni Road runs from the Community of Itabali, Mazaruni River, Lower Mazaruni, to the Papishou Landing, Mazaruni River, and Middle Mazaruni, and is the only entrance and exit to various key sections of Region Seven. This newspaper was told that the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) has the sole responsibility for the maintenance of this road; however, users say they have been doing an unsatisfactory job.
Gold miner Nicholas Gomes on Wednesday told Guyana Times that because of the deplorable state of the road, he was forced to close his operation and send his workers home. He said that such a tough decision was made as they were unable to get the usual food supplies into the mining camp.
He added that 4×4 vehicles are unable in many instances to pass through the huge mud ditches.
He explained that his staff were left without food after the land cruiser he hired to transport the food supplies could not make way into the mining area. He added that the vehicle became stuck in a ditch along the trail and remained there overnight and had to be towed out.
“It’s a very frustrating situation. I have a dredge operation and it’s unfair for persons to be working and you can’t get stuff in in a timely manner and in the event of an emergency you can’t get out of there. It’s really rough because we’re all trying to make a living. I would really love if the GGMC can come in here and do some work on this road, grade it a bit or something, this is really unacceptable,” Gomes said.
Another miner told this publication that he too was forced to temporarily close his operation. He called on the GGMC to honour its commitment and commence works on the road.
The miner noted that the multi-million dollar rehabilitation works done in February of this year on the same road lasted less than two months and described the contractor as a “rip off.”
“Earlier this year when the road was impassable, then GGMC stepped in and contracted a firm. They claimed that millions were spent and by April the road was in an atrocious state all over again. Now it’s three months since we are complaining and the GGMC speechless. The contractor should be sanctioned for ripping people off. We all need to work and live and how can we earn a daily bread when we can’t go to work,” the miner stated.
Efforts to obtain a comment from the GGMC by this publication Wednesday proved unsuccessful as the Engineers Department forwarded all questions to the Commissioner, whose secretary said he was unavailable.
In February of this year, a woman died while she was stranded on the deplorable road for two days. The deceased woman, Patricia Joseph, known as ‘Patsy’ of West Indies Housing Scheme, Bartica, was heading into the Puruni Landing where she worked as a cook, when the truck that she was travelling in got stuck inside a ditch.
A post-mortem after the incident revealed that the she died from ruptured arteries.
During the same month, Government announced that a contract was signed for the rehabilitation of the Puruni Road after weeks of public outcry from miners and other stakeholders. The contract facilitated the rehabilitation and construction of the Itabali to Puruni Road surface.
Miners and business operators who were forced to halt their operations pointed out that the road has been neglected and deteriorated to this state over the past few months.
