By Kurt Campbell
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Opposition Member of Parliament Annette Ferguson during her contribution to the ongoing budget debate in the National Assembly says the state of many roads and bridges across the country remain a major challenge for citizens on a daily basis.
She recalled that over the last year many saw and read of citizens taking actions into their hands by protesting and blocking roads in their respective communities to get the attention of the relevant authorities to address the problem.
Ferguson said her party – APNU – is of the view that “Public Infrastructure must serve the people and the people must be the center of it and not that the people must serve the Public Infrastructure, which is currently happening. The APNU’s view is that the only change to this is through Local Government Elections.”
The APNU MP recalled too that the sum of $11.2 billion was spent in 2012 on roads, for Financial Year 2013, a total of $11.3 billion was spent, giving a total of some $22.5 billion spent thus far for the past two years since the commencement of the tenth Parliament.
She argued however, that there has been no significant improvement in the rehabilitating, reconstruction and repairing of roads.
“What we continue to see happening is the waste of taxpayers’ monies on capital projects, such as the Marriott, Specialty Hospital, Amalia Hydropower as our citizens continue to bemoan the spending of monies.”
Ferguson said she had the privilege of visiting the Sophia Area where she empathized with those who reside in the community because of the challenges they face, especially when it rains.
“Most referred to the roads as the abortion roads… In some cases they are forced to pay extra in transportation cost.”
She told the House that the Kaneville community continues to be neglected by the administration and there are no provisions in this year’s budget to address residents concern.
According to the MP, the residents there are of the view that the administration continues to fail to yield to their demands of ensuring that relief is given to them with the provision of good roads.
“Recently we heard the outcries from residents in Vryheid’s Lust, Better Hope and Plaisance denouncing the state of the roads in their communities.”
She recommended that there be a cessation in frequent road patching and pot hole filling.
“The solution to road repairing is capping of the entire stretch. With this, our road ways would last longer and minimize wasteful spending.”
