Essequibo Road completion date now in September
Transport and Hydraulics Minister Anthony Xavier has announced that the new date for the completion of the Essequibo road will be in September and has expressed concern about the increase in accidents on the improved thoroughfare. "I'm very, very concerned about the accidents. I keep saying all the time it is becoming a burden to know that every time a road is constructed somebody dies on it shortly afterwards," Xavier told Stabroek News on Tuesday. A special committee to review traffic laws is to be convened by the Minister of Home Affairs, Ronald Gajraj, in the wake of the spate of accidents on the country's roadways which have snuffed out the lives of hundreds of persons over the last few years. Xavier disclosed that tenders for the bridges along the Essequibo roadway will be awarded in another two weeks. He said when this stage was completed the paving work will continue. The first of three layers of the road was finished. He stated that the inclement weather contributed substantially to the delays in the road rehabilitation, coupled with some equipment failure. Signs will be placed along the new highway indicating the names of the villages along the Essequibo Coast. This, together with the road markings and an asphalted layer, would lend to an improved Essequibo Coast road, he said. The minister said he was aware of the constraints the Guyana Police Force worked under, given its limited resources, but expressed full support for President Bharrat Jagdeo's call for changes in the traffic laws. Xavier will be part of the review committee and urged that all become involved in the process. "This has to have total involvement of everyone. Citizens have got to understand that the laws will be very harsh... I'm hoping it involves society as a whole," he said. The minister stated that revision of the laws would give the opportunity to the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and the Community Development Committees and the regional authorities to have some input. These bodies have an important role to play since they are the ones "on the ground" and are aware of the occurrences in their respective areas and their effects, he asserted. Xavier condemned the reckless manner in which mini-buses were being driven on Guyana's roads. "It's a wanton display of recklessness. I really and truly cannot understand it. Sometimes I get a glimpse of the people travelling on the buses and they look really scared," he said. The minister said many of the bus drivers and conductors react in a distasteful manner when they are reprimanded by passengers for driving too fast. He is advocating that the owners of the vehicles be made to bear some of the pressure whenever the buses end up in accidents. "I would like to see drivers have their licences taken away when they breach the traffic laws. Even the vehicles should be seized. We don't have to wait until accidents occur. The owners, too, must feel it," he stated. Xavier is pushing for more rigorous testing to be applied to persons who apply for mini-bus licences since they would be eventually responsible for people's lives on the roadways. Summing up the stigma attached to the mini-bus culture, the minister said: "What frightens me is the thought of someone leaving their home to go to work in a mini-bus. The parents or children of that person do not know if they would see that person alive again. That is the risk they take when they go into the mini-buses." Xavier will visit the Essequibo Coast next week to inspect the works done so far on the Essequibo Road and the sea defence in the region.
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