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East Bank Demerara Road expansion…Min. Patterson eyes June deadline for project
Back in 2011, the then People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administration had rolled out the East Bank Demerara (EBD) four-lane extension project.
Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson
Fast forward to 2016, however, and work is still being completed after construction delays and time extensions. In addition, the work has been causing extended traffic jams since resuming.
According to Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, however, works on the EBD road project are set to be completed by the end of June 2016, once the weather does not prove too detrimental.
He added that the workers have been given a May 26 deadline for the lane on either side of the carriageway to be completed. This, he said, was to ensure that the traffic flow is smooth for the Jubilee celebrations.
Asked whether the possibility of the workers working both day and night had been explored, the Minister stated that they had their schedule to complete, by whatever means necessary.
Work on the Lot One, the Providence to Covent Garden component, of the project had originally been awarded to Dipcon Engineering Services Ltd in 2011 for some US$8M. It was initially set to be completed in 18 months, but after three extensions the work had only gone half way by March last year. The contract was terminated and granted to Gaico Construction and BK International.
The 2014 Auditor General report on the then Ministry of Public Works highlighted several instances, whereby construction delays within all three lots in the controversial East Bank of Demerara highway improvement project- Providence to Covent Garden, Vreed en Ruste to Prospect and Diamond resulted in numerous time extensions and the ultimate stymieing of the endeavour.
President David Granger was asked on the weekly television programme, The Public Interest, about the delays on the EBD road and the East Coast to East Bank Demerara bypass road. In his response, he stated that the administration has had to do some reevaluation.
“This administration has had to reevaluate the infrastructure plan. The plan is now national; it is not Region Four alone. We want to see highways going into the hinterland, particularly from Region Ten to Region Nine.”
Works on the East Bank Demerara road.
“We want to see roads in Region Eight and Region Seven, going into the areas that produce our gold, diamond and timber. And also this would enable law enforcement officers to exercise duties. Right now the plans are under evaluation.”
“So we are working on a national plan and of course that national plan has to be financed. That perhaps is one of the drawbacks. But we want to see highways, not just creating a network on the coast but also penetrating the hinterland.”
Earlier this year, Government had inked a US$50M loan with the Export-Import Bank of India to construct a 20km bypass road from Ogle, on the East Coast of Demerara to Great Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara.
The new roadway is expected to be linked to several communities including Perseverance, Mocha, Providence, Eccles, Peter’s Hall and Aubrey Barker Road.
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