The President warned those guilty persons to stop overloading their vehicles. They must honour the axle restriction or face the penalty, he said.

President Jagdeo sounded this warning last Sunday while holding discussions with rice farmers and other residents of Cane Grove during a meet-the-people tour of that area.

“We have to go on an aggressive campaign. Too many people are violating the weight-per-axle restrictions that are placed to make sure that our roads are not damaged,” the Guyanese Leader told residents.

He was at the time, responding to complaints by residents about the poor state of some roadways as a result of the passage of heavy vehicles. Residents told the President said that at the very time, a consignment of 20 tonnes of rice was being prepared for transportation out of the neighbourhood for marketing.

However, Mr Jagdeo, who had endured much discomfort while travelling along the damaged roadways en route to Cane Grove, agreed that it was time to bring to a halt the wanton destruction. He was adamant that irresponsible behaviour on the part of a few persons should not cause an entire community to suffer.

Pointing out that “huge sums of monies are being spent to build these roads”, the Head of State cautioned: “We can’t have just a few people damaging them because of greed.”

He also cited instances of over-laden sand and lumber trucks damaging the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, and promised “the campaign will kick off right across the country, not only here in Cane Grove”.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Works and Communications, Anthony Xavier, who was in the Presidential party, confirmed that eight of 24 scales to be used in the campaign have already been received, and that the campaign will begin sooner rather than later.