Latest update January 19th, 2025 12:01 AM
Works on $9.2B WCD road delayed by utilities removal
…expected to commence in two weeks
Government has announced that work on the $9.2B West Coast Demerara road project will commence shortly.
Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson recently told Kaieteur News that the Vreed-en-Hoop to Hydronie Road had been delayed owning to the process of the removal and relocation of utilities. Nonetheless he said the project will be moving apace shortly.
In March, the previous PPP/C government commissioned the road with a 36-months deadline. Already three months have passed but no major work has started on the 30.7 kilometers road.
Adding to the sentiments of the new Minister, Chief Works Officer, Jeffrey Vaughn said that the removal of utilities has commenced from the Parika end.
“It’s continuous, so once they continue to move, we will continue to work. You will start seeing works because the utilities are being moved,” said Vaughn.
Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson
The Chief Works Officer stated too “There is a delay because we didn’t get all the contracts completed with the utilities companies and those have been completed.”
Continuing, he said the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) will be doing its part next week. He said that the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has already commenced works.
Vaughn estimated that within two weeks “there will be actual excavation works for the road to start.”
The roadway, which will stretch some 30.7 kilometers from Vreed-en-Hoop to as far west as Hydronie, is expected to be completed by local contracting company, BK International and Jamaican company, Surrey Paving and Aggregate (SPA) Ltd.
The road network’s upgrade will cater for pavement rehabilitation, road widening, separation lanes for cyclists and pedestrians, installation of traffic signs, traffic lights and road markings, as well as the replacement of the Groenveldt bridge, relocation of utilities and general repairs.
The project, dubbed the Fourth Road Project (West Coast Demerara Road Improvement), costs US$46M. The money, which was approved in the 2014 Budget, is provided primarily through the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of Guyana.
The initiative started in 2013 and was based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Loan Agreement signed with the CDB.
It was previously reported that the project has combined six components that are to be implemented. These include Road Works, Engineering Services, Road Safety Awareness, Capacity Building, Monitoring and Evaluation and Project Management.
Under the Road Safety Awareness component, there is School Road Safety Education, Community and Driver Road Safety Education Programme and Road Safety Public Relations and Communications.
Shane Garvin, the Project Manager attached to the Surrey Paving and Aggregate (SPA) Ltd., had said that the project is expected to reduce road and traffic accidents by 30 per cent.
He had said that although the contract is for 36 months, they intend to complete it before, in about 30 months. “It is very achievable providing we get access,” he had said.
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