Leguan residents satisfied, newly rehabilitated roads welcomed
─ road from Amsterdam to Canefield to be upgraded in 2020
DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Yogeeta Bhagwandas, a resident of Leguan, was one of the first individuals that raised the issue concerning a mud dam in Endeavour in Leguan and its adjacent road’s condition. Bhagwandas, a housewife and mother of one, runs a small-scale poultry business. She took advantage of the opportunity to meet with government officials during a community meeting on the island on July 30, 2019.
In her response to experiencing the results of that discussion, Bhagwandas remarked: “I went to the outreach, and I spoke about it, and someone listened… Since I have lived here for six years, the road and the dam was in a bad state.”
Thrilled that her child would not have to endure the deplorable state of the dam, Bhagwandas boldly said, “no more mud, no more uniform wetting.”
Anita Sankar lives a stone throw away from the road. She also spoke with the Department of Public Information (DPI) in July and expressed her desire to see the Endeavour road fixed as well as the mud dam. She too has children that traverse the dam to get to and from school. Now that the dam has a concrete walkway for residents to traverse, Anita stated, “I think that is better for the children. Their feet won’t have mud anymore.”
Regarding the newly improved Endeavour road, Sankar commented: “Since I know myself from a little girl growing up, this part of the road from Endeavour to Amsterdam never repair. I am so happy for the residents of Endeavour, Leguan to now have a perfect road and I think that it is a good job done.”
Another resident of Endeavour, Paulette McKoy said,“nobody ever fixed this road, but this government that take charge now, repaired the road and I am glad.” McKoy’s home borders both the dam and Endeavour’s road.
The recent infrastructural upgrades spanned from Endeavour to Amsterdam. District Three Engineer within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Seenarine Nandram, highlighted that the rehabilitative works done between the communities. Speaking with DPI, Nandram noted, “we expended over $16M to upgrade from a crusher-run road to an asphalted concrete road. The design life expectancy of this road is approximately five years with care.”
Concerning proper use of the roadway to prevent unnecessary damage, Nandram explained, “Leguan is an agricultural island and the road is subject to heavy machinery usage… Ideally, what we need to do is to highlight to these road users or commuters, modes in which they can operate efficiently and effectively on the roads to actually protect them.”
To further strengthen the road network in Leguan, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure plans to upgrade Amsterdam to Canefield’s sand-road to a crusher-run road in 2020.
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