More emphasis to be placed on removing derelict vehicles – Armogan
Corentyne Highway dangers
Region Six Chairman David Armogan said the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) will have to take a more active role in ensuring that the Corentyne Highway is cleared of derelict vehicles and is not used as a parking lot for agricultural machinery which is not in use.
Discarded vehicle parts are also thrown on the road shoulders to rot
The Corentyne Highway has become a cemetery for draglines, combines, steam rollers and all sorts of heavy-duty machinery as well as other vehicles
The Regional Chairman acknowledged that the issue is generally debated whenever there is a fatal accident involving some piece of equipment which has been permanently parked on the shoulder of the Corentyne Highway.
Meanwhile, regional representative Gobin Harbhajan, who has in the past been very vocal over the situation told this publication that parking on the road shoulders with heavy-duty agriculture machines has become a norm in the region.
He called it a hazard to both pedestrians and motorists.
The Corentyne Highway, Harbhajan noted, has also become the resting place for old minibuses and cars and it has always attracted a blame game between the Communities, Public Infrastructure and Public Security Ministries as to who is responsible for having these dangers removed.
Regional Chairman Armogan has placed the responsibility at the feet of all three Ministries.
Heavy duty machinery left on the road shoulders
“If it in on the reserve of the NDC [Neighbourhood Democratic Council] it is a NDC matter if it is on the road; once there is pitchmen there is the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and once it is an encumbrance on the road itself where commuters have to move, then it is the police.”
The Police is the local arm of the Public Security Ministry and the NDC is an arm of the Communities Ministry.
“The RDC has oversight of all what is happening in the region, so we have to also take some responsibility too. But then the people who have the legal jurisdiction, those are the people who will have to give the notices. The RDC cannot give a notice for an encumbrance in an NDC area,” the Chairman explained.
Armogan said the regional administration will begin to issue letters to NDCs informing them of the dangers posed by the derelicts and permanently parked vehicles on the road shoulders.
Many of the encumbrances stem from the agricultural activities in the region since it is predominantly agriculture based.
