Bad road sparks Penal protest

Outraged by the deplorable state of their road, residents of Deosaran Trace in Penal protested on Tuesday to demand that it be fixed.

During the protest, residents told Newsday that they’ve been pleading with authorities to fix the road for the past several years.

One resident, who asked only to be identified only as Danny, said residents have now started pooling funds to fix the road themselves.

He lamented, “For over 20 years the road has been in this condition and they ain’t doing nothing about it, don’t matter who you report it to.

“We getting fed up. We say we might have to buy we own material to fix all them big hole and yesterday I went by a contractor to price materials.

“These roads over bearable (sic) now and we can’t take it.”

Recently, the area’s councillor Doodnath Mayrhoo had a small portion of the road paved but residents said the effort was not enough and they want the entire road fixed.

Contacted for comment, Mayrhoo told Newsday that even though funding has been allocated to fix the road, it will not be fixed in one go.

He said, “I had a meeting two weeks ago in that village indicating that we had placed a $50,000 to start (paving) work which was completed last week.

“I have again placed another $100,000 under the development programme to continue the paving.

“The engineers have already done site visits and we have applied for the release of that funding. As soon as that release comes through, a contract will be awarded and that road will be fixed.”

Mayrhoo explained that as a councillor he receives $400,000 a year to deal with issues relating to roads and bridges in his electoral district of Avocat/San Francique North.

He said that this allocation is usually divided among the several areas in his district which includes the Mosquito Creek Cremation Site, Siparia Old Road, Pluck Road and part of San Francique.

“It is highly difficult for me to take the entire sum of $400,000 and put it in one area when there are numerous areas that have been affected by bad roads throughout the district.

“What I do, is every year I try to gradually do my best to bring some sense of comfort to the residents in my district.”

Mayrhoo confirmed that residents have raised $3,600 on their own to have the road fixed and he will be assisting them.

“The residents will pay for some material and I will provide the transport from the corporation, the labour and the equipment to do some work.

“I have also promised an additional $20,000 for oil sand and gravel to repair part of the road. It’s not like the road or the people in the area are being abandoned.”