Shillong, Oct 5: The village never had a road since Meghalaya attained statehood, Deputy Chief Minister in-charge PWD (Roads) Prestone Tynsong said on Monday while refuting allegations of “poor road” following unfortunate death of a three-year-old child at Rambrai in West Khasi Hills district.
Tynsong was specifically responding to VPP president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit’s allegation and accused the latter of politicising the death of the child.
“To briefly tell Bah Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit or those who are speaking against the incident, that village is one which never had a road. It is not that the condition of the road is bad…,” Tynsong said.
Informing that work is already on to fulfill the long-pending demand for connectivity in the area, he said, “In the last few months, I laid the foundation stone to start the road from middle of Rambrai… the plan is to connect it up to Nongnah. We have sanctioned Rs 25 crore and preliminary work order has been issued.”
The construction will begin once preparatory work by the contractor is completed, he said.
“I firmly hope this road will benefit 8-9 villages which have not had a road at all since we got statehood,” he said.
Stating that road connectivity has been a priority, Tynsong said many unconnected villages have now been connected and jungle roads have been improved.
“As far as road connectivity is concerned, you must have seen we have taken initiatives. Some villages which were totally unconnected are now being connected and some villages which had roads but more or less like jungle roads… that also we have done,” he said.
Admitting that gaps remain, he said, “We are trying to reach out to those habitations where connectivity is not there at all and we are committed to ensure every habitation is connected.”
