And while the Machakil Ha residents can now drive into their village, the road still has a long way to go.
On Friday, the Ministry of Rural Transformation spoke about all the changes they've made to the village. First off, the residents will be paying a fee for the maintenance of the solar power system. And in the future, they'll be seeing upgrades to their new road.
Hon. Oscar Requena, Minister of Rural Transformation
"Today we saw the inauguration of the solar and water project here in the community. I can say to you that the people are very happy, they're very grateful for this opportunity because many times, Machakil Ha is considered the last village way in the bush. But that has changed today, particularly because we have seen the hard work and the collaboration of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing along with our Ministry of Rural Transformation to bring the road all the way to Machakil Ha. This is a wonderful accomplishment, for many years, the people in Machakil Ha were clamoring that they wanted a road. This project was started last year, unfortunately due to the weather, it was not completed and I made a solemn commitment to the people of Machakil Ha that we were going to see this project through."
"Two week after the road was completed we saw three families buying their vehicles, they can now go to Punta Gorda if they need to go and conduct business, if they have an emergency to deal with in the community, they can go to the hospital, it has just opened up the world to them and that is a wonderful experience."
"As part of the sustainability component of the project, a solar project board has been put in place. As the Ministry of Rural Transformation, we provide support and oversight to that board so certainly we'll provide capacity building training and basically just to encourage the people to pay their fees because there is maintenance and somebody has to pay for it so they are going to pay and we will be here to support them through."
"As you say coming in, there are several spots where we need to install culverts, you know it's obvious that the road, it's a wonderful improvement, just being able to drive all the way here, compared to two years ago when you had to walk all the way from Dolores, which is over three and a half miles. But certainly we are going to ensure that the culverts are put in place, there is the need to raise the road, to improve the drainage, but all of that will come with time."
Minister Requena mentioned that the road was not financed by a loan, but by the public purse, so it did not add to the national debt.
