Berbice Rice Farmers accused of misusing public roads

By Royan Abrams

Recently there has been an increase in the number of road accidents on the West Coast of Berbice and the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) in region five is exploring possible options in addressing the issue.

According to the Regional Executive Officer (REO), Ovid Morrison, urgent attention is needed to address double parking on the public road in rice cultivated areas.

“There are trucks parking during this harvest time, side by side along the highway by night with no clear indication to oncoming traffic so as to avoid accidents. As you would have seen there is an increase trend of road accidents in this region and if you take a good look you will realize that it’s in the areas where rice is cultivated” he added.

Morrison added that the tractors being used in the agriculture based region is also posing some threats to road users. He noted that the tractors leave the road in a muddy state which “is presenting the condition for serious accidents and lives could be lost.”

The RDC of region five was urged to collaborate with the Guyana Police Force in the region to ensure that those issues no longer exist to prevent the loss of lives.

However several recommendations were made by councillors of the RDC and they have agreed on consultations with rice farmers, the police and the RDC to remedy the issues. The council is also looking to put regulations in place to regulate the use of the public roads by vehicles utilised for agriculture purposes.