Leguan, the wait is over! Endeavour to Amsterdam road to be asphalted
— residents eager for the road upgrade after traversing a mud dam for decades
— Min. Sharma visited the island to assess and address infrastructural needs
— $60M in road upgrades pledged for the island
DPI, Guyana, Friday, July 12, 2019
“It’s about 26 years and this dam was never fixed,” said Anita Sankar, a housewife and mother of three from Endeavour, Leguan. “The children – they going to school and coming out of the dam and going out, the boots when they come home it’s wet. The socks, the boots, they have to change the boots,” Sankar explained as she recounted the experience of those that traverse the muddy dam.
When it was revealed that the mud dam road would be upgraded, Anita exclaimed, “I think that will be better for the children and everybody that using the dam!”
This update follows a visit on Thursday, by the Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Hon. Jaipaul Sharma to the Essequibo Island of approximately 4,000 residents. Minister Sharma said the visit aimed to assess the infrastructural needs of the island.
“We’re going to be taking measurements for roads. We’re going to be looking at the culverts and most of all we are going to be looking at projects completed under this present administration,” said Minister Sharma.
With respect to the mud dam road, District Engineer within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure with responsibilities for District 3, Seenarine Nandram explained that works will commence at the beginning of the dry season. “We will be upgrading that road to a crusher run road so that residents… their livelihoods would be improved,”. Nandram also related that 1,000 metres of road from Endeavour to Amsterdam will be upgraded to an asphalted concrete surface.
Minister Sharma then travelled to Wakenaam to inspect the road network in the small community.
“Most of the roads here, I would estimate have not been maintained for the past 8 to 10 years. In the sand and loam area, which is about 8 miles of roads, that probably wasn’t maintained for the past 17 years” the minister noted.
Measurements of the roads on the island that need upgrades were taken.
The visit to Wakenaam follows a widespread community engagement held on the island two Sundays ago with residents and a ministerial team. It was during a meeting in Maria-Johanna that Minister of Public Infrastructure, Hon. David Patterson pledged $60M in road upgrades for the island. A mobile asphalt plant will be mobilised on the island to facilitate the roadworks.