East Bank Berbice residents threaten to block Indian Arrival Day motorcade if they don’t get new road

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:02 by GxMedia

Residents of East Bank Berbice on Tuesday picketed outside Parliament Building, threatening to prevent an Indian Arrival Day motorcade from passing if government does not fix the deplorable New Amsterdam to Mara Road.

Bearing placards with slogans and photographs of the condition of the road, they called on government to use monies that the opposition might cut from the budget to rebuild their 25-mile roadway.

They complained that the cost of transportation by bus and car has doubled because of the Martian-like surface of the thoroughfare that is being used by the estimated 5,000 residents along the way.

Public Works Minister, Robeson Benn was not immediately available for comment.

Karen France said residents planned to form a human barricade on May 5 when a motorcade is expected to pass through their community to Highbury in observance of Indian Arrival Day.

“We’re saying to this government ‘No Road, No Highbury because on that day they will have to driver over all the over five thousand residents of East Berbice because we are planning to form a body brigade and block that road,” she said

France claimed that President Donald Ramotar had stated on television in Berbice that aggrieved residents would have to wait another year before the road is rebuilt, a failure of his promise. They said they have been waiting for the past 21 years for a proper road.

The spokeswoman for the estimated 60 persons said a male senior citizen recently fractured his hip and two children were born on the road while the pregnant women were travelling. They said police and fire fighters take a very long time to get to the area because they have to navigate the huge pot holes.

Relating that the Region Six administration has deployed heavy duty machinery to fix the road, France said “we don’t want anymore patchwork.” “We don’t want a four-lane road. All we are asking the government to give us is a new road and we cannot wait until next year,” she said.