On Monday night we showed the terrible state of what are known as sugar roads in the Corozal District. These are the roads which are used for carrying cane from farms deep in the sugar belt unto the main roads which lead to the factory at Tower Hill. Well, Chief Engineer in the Ministry of Works Cadet Henderson says the Ministry of Works is doing its part and he provided pictures to boot.
He says the Ministry is in the middle of a major programme to repair over 700 sugar roads in the Corozal and Orange Walk districts. He admits though that work has been slowed because of rains. But Henderson insists that the roads we showed you are on private property and are not on his list - which was provided to him by the Cane Farmers Association.
According to the Ministry's stats, 50% of the roads have been repaired and two crews are at work. The Corozal unit is working in the southeast (Progresso) and north (Yo Chen/Cristo Rey, Laguna) while the Orange Walk crew is concentrated in the south (San Lazaro area) and north of that district.
And while we've no reason to doubt Henderson, we continue to get complaints from across the district, and when we visited today we continued to find sugar roads in disastrous conditions. Many of the farmers we spoke to say neglect is one issue, but the words have also been significantly degraded through use by Fruta Bomba's heavy duty vehicles.
