Wakapoa residents calling for the construction of a road; citing danger posed by wildlife
Residents of Myrie and Wypaqua in the village of Wakapoa are calling on the authorities to construct a road that would link the two communities.
The road that was constructed in 2015 under the initiative of Peace Corps Guyana with the help of residents has turned into a swamp due to excessive rainfall.
The loamy road is 42,768 inches long, and 396 inches wide and is currently under three feet of water.
Although residents depend on the road heavily to access schools, farmland, health centres, and other facilities, it has now become a health and safety hazard.
A number of residents have been shocked by electric eels and came in contact with anacondas, which would have caused serious injuries to their bodies. According to reports, there have been two cases of persons needing immediate medical assistance.
(Teachers on their way to Wypaqua primary school)
Allana Phillip, 29, a nursery schoolteacher pointed out that it is a safety and health concern for children who use it to get to school.
"The water gets very high, and the road is not flat, it has lots of holes so when the water is high you don't see where you usually go and at time you can like slip, and sometimes for the little children it's too high for them they can't cross " she related.
It is even more difficult and scary at night using on the road, the 29-year-old said, because there are no lights.
Alana Phillips walking in the flooded road to visit the family.
Richard Thomas, a resident of Wakapoa for the past 43 years, told our news team that he was recently rushed to the Suddie Public Hospital after using the road around 3:00 pm and was shocked by an eel.
"it's a chance you taking but we have to take the chance because we can't get away from the fact, we know that it is something very dangerous to us residents who use it regularly. The water is black water so you cannot see below." he said.
Ulanie Williams, a community health worker pointed out that the flooded road causes financial strains to pay $1000 every day to travel to and from work.
"Because I don't have my own transportation I have to pay money every day, because I need to get to work, and the water level stays like this for about 3 to 4 months ", she said.
What residents are calling for is a road, Richard Thomas told our news team. "I believe that this is a good initiative for us, because we have a foundation that is there whereby the village council come into play and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure to give us a road".
Phillips Robinson echoed similar sentiments while pointing out that the road is in the middle of nowhere and danger can happen at any moment.
The residents of Wakapoa remain optimistic as they would have raised their concerns to the Toshao highlighting the need for the construction of a road during community meetings over the last year, with the recent one being held in November.
Meanwhile, Wakapoa's Toshao Louyid Pereria, told MTV News Update that several requests were made to the Region Two Democratic Council for inspection however there were no responses.
“We had asked the engineers to go and check for us so they advise us too but they never did”
Residents remain hopeful that the RDC and/ or the Public Infrastructure Ministry could intervene and construct a road in the interest of the people of Wakapoa.
