US$42M West Demerara Expansion Project moving apace

Mar 05, 2017 News

– 60 % complete
Coordinator of the Works Services Group, Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Geoffrey

A section of the road that works will be carried out on in April.

Vaughn, said Friday that works on the US$42M West Demerara Road Expansion Project are moving apace. He revealed that works are approximately 60 percent complete.
The works are being carried out by means of a joint venture— Jamaican engineering Company – Surrey Paving and Aggregate (SPA), and local construction company, BK International.
The project commenced in 2015 and is slated to be completed by January next year.
The objective of the venture is to increase efficiency and safety of road transportation along the West Coast Demerara Road from Vreed-en-Hoop to Hydronie, East Bank Essequibo; and combines six components – Road Works, Road Safety Awareness, Capacity Building, Road Works Supervision, Monitoring and Evaluation and Project Management.
The Road Works Component entails the improvement of approximately 30.7 km of the West Coast Demerara Road from Vreed-en-Hoop to Hydronie just about one mile east of Parika.
This aspect of the project includes pavement rehabilitation, road widening for the separation of pedestrians and cyclists from motorized traffic, installation of traffic signs and road markings, provision of additional highway lights, replacement of the Groenveldt Bridge – which has already been completed – extension and repairs to culverts and relocation of utilities.

The US$42M West Demerara Road Expansion project is approximately 60 percent complete. (File Photo)

Based on previous reports, Kaieteur News was able to track the progress of the work since it commenced in March 2015.
Nine months after commencement, works were 20 percent complete. However; there were some issues with regards to mobilisation and the inclement weather.
By June 2016, works were 30 percent. At this point, works were said to be behind schedule. In September 2016, the Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, told media operatives at his Ministry’s end-of-year press conference, that works were 40 percent complete.
Based on the deadline and works completed to date, the contractors have 11 months to complete the remaining 40 percent of works.
Over the past few weeks, there have been calls for works to be done at night. However; when Vaughn was quizzed, he said that the approach is still under consideration.
East Coast Demerara Road expansion
Meanwhile, the mobilization payment has been made, and the second phase of the stalled East Coast Demerara road-widening project is expected to begin in April. This assurance was given by Public Infrastructure Minister, David Patterson, last month.
“The contractor is mobilizing. They had said to us that they would be on site by the beginning of May. We said that that’s too late, so we’re asking them to be here, the latest, April 1, to start the work,” he said.
The US$46M project was awarded to China Railway First Group Limited. The first phase of the project, which was the preparatory work had been completed since 2015 at the cost of some $500M.
While the commencement of the second half of the project was on hold, the sand and other materials used in preparation of the expansion had been washing onto the existing road, leading many to believe that it was just a waste of tax dollars.
The East Coast Road Expansion project was tainted by the findings of the Auditor General for the years 2014 and 2015. The reports showed that a number of overpayments were made to the phase one contractors, under the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government.
The East Coast road-widening and improvement project caters for a section of the main thoroughfare between Better Hope and Belfield.