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Critical Linden/Lethem roadway upgraded – Minister Benn
– US$270M was estimate for Asphalt roadway two years ago
Miles of fair weather roads were carved into the pathway of region eight by Omai Gold Mines Limited, which would be leaving Guyana in June 2015, after 24 years of operations.
Robeson Benn Minister of Public Works and Communication and other officials at the starting point of the Linden/Lethem roadway.
The resurfacing of critical sections of the Linden/Lethem roadway has reduced travel time from 13-plus hours to seven hours. The roadway was compacted with lateritic material. An estimated 276 miles of roadway was upgraded under the project.
The multi-million-dollar project, which commenced in September 2014, was executed in phases by Troy Resources; Omai Gold Mines (OGM); Demerara Timbers Limited (DTL); Mekdeci Machinery and Construction (MMC) and Vevakanand Dalip Enterprise (DALIP).
Under the Mabura, Karasabai/Monkey Mountain road project a tour was hosted Wednesday by Minister of Public Works and Communication, Robeson Benn. Accompanying him were Public Works Engineers, Government’s chief structural engineer, Walter Willis and Omai Gold Mines Limited Human Resource Manager, Major-General (Ret’d) Norman McLean.
McLean said Omai assisted with upgrading the roadway and five-mile markers have been placed between the turn-off to Omai and the Rockstone Junction.
“This is part of the legacy we want to leave, and it is in this roadway as we are phasing out
A section of the carriageway that leads to Lethem being cleared of trees hanging onto the roadway.
by 30th June, 2015. We started in 1991 at Omai Mines and lots of work was done.”
Minister Benn explained that the roadway is designed for four-wheel drive vehicles. “The intended original purpose was not for minibuses and cars since the rainy season changes the roadway for vehicles with low ground clearance.”
He noted that the 72 mile road branches to Mahdia, Lethem and a section of the Amaila Falls highway. “The difficulty we have is as soon as we improve the road usually there are accidents because of misuse. The roadway also has a turn off for the section two of the Amalia Falls road that leads to the Essequibo River… “This road is the road that goes all the way to Lethem, across the Takutu River, it takes you to Boa Vista and Manaus into Brazil.”
Underscoring that the resurfaced carriageway is a critical road link in and out of Brazil, Minister Benn said out of Brazil the first sea port is Linden which will be the first port of call with tonnes of bauxite being loaded at the docks for ocean freight in and out of Brazil.
“We had done a feasibility study two years ago to make the carriageway into a tar road and the estimate was US$270M and it probably would be higher now. The feasibility study done by Moth Mc Donald shows that at the moment the road is only feasible to Mabura where there is the bulk of the traffic passing through. A major constraint in improving the feasibility study at this time is the crossing of the Essequibo River at Kurupukari, where there is a barge crossing during 12 hours daylight which has its limitations.” Benn explained
He continued: “We are designing a bridge to cross the Kurupukari which is being done in house by the Public Works Ministry. This will change our ability to cross the Essequibo River which is a major geographic barrier.”
Minister Benn also noted that plans are afoot to use toll stations to maintain the roadway since there has been an upsurge in forestry activities in the area.
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