Onderneeming residents block community bridge in protest of deplorable roads- truck operators barred from community.

Residents of Onderneeming, on the Essequibo Coast, have blocked the “Sandpit Bridge” in protest of the deplorable state of the Onderneeming road; denying truckers entry to the community. The protest action Based on information reaching Big Smith News Watch, the protest commenced earlier this morning.

The Onderneeming is believed to be one of the first established housing schemes on the Essequibo Coast. Due to its vast sand resource, sand mining within the community has been a primary economic activity for years. The Ministry of Central Housing and Planning has recently allocated over three hundred house lots in that community.

When this publication visited the scene earlier today, residents said that over the past years, the condition of the roadway has significantly worsened. Residents pointed out that truckers who usually mine sand within the Sandpit Community, are primarily responsible for the state of the road.

One resident during an interview with this publication said, “The truck that them man using is double axel trucks. The road is a sand road and it can’t support them kinda heavy duty trucks, even the bridge and the asphalt road over the bridge the trucks mashing up.”

Residents told Big Smith News Watch that they will continue to protest and deny access to truckers, until they are convinced the Onderneeming road will be paved.  “we complaining here for years and years and nothing is being done, when you go to the toll gate, the toll gate people saying that they working with the higher authority… Right now, we ain’t gonna allow no truck to work in here, unless they fix this road, if they want to continue working sand in here, the they got to pave this road first.”

Residents said that due to the deplorable state of the road, it becomes increasing difficult to travel in and out of the community. “We the small drivers feeling it, every month is 100s a thousand we gotta spend on maintaining we vehicle… The Region taking out loam and sand here to fix another road, and for the past forty years they still can’t pave the Onderneeming road, enough is enough,” said a protesting resident.

This is the 2nd protest of this type on the Essequibo Coast. Residents of Dartmouth are currently protesting the police shooting death of businessman Orin Boston.