Upgrade of E.C.D Highway commences today

Aug 29, 2017 News

Works to expand and upgrade sections of the East Coast Demerara highway is scheduled to begin today.
According to information provided by Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Public

A view of a portion of the ECD Highway that will be expanded at Beterverwagting.

Infrastructure, Desilon Daniels, the highway will be widened from Better Hope to Annandale, whereby the existing two-lane highway will be transformed into a four-lane thoroughfare.
However, from Annandale to Belfield, the two-lane roadway will be upgraded as it relates to the extension and reconstruction of bridges and the improvement of the drainage system.
The project will also entail the installation of traffic signals and signs, road markings, sidewalks and street lighting. Additional information on the programme for the project indicates that the civil works will also include the placement and compaction of sub base and base layers with white sand and white sand clay and paving with asphaltic concrete.
The project is being funded by the government of Guyana and the Export-Import Bank of China through a line of credit.
A framework agreement was signed last November at the Ministry of Finance by the Minister, Winston Jordan and the former Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Zhang Limin. This was to formalise the US$46M financial injection into the project.
The company that was awarded the contract is China Railway First Group Company Limited.
Work was scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2017 and be completed in December of 2018. However, there was a lengthy delay in the processing of the loan agreement. It is expected that the project will take two years to be completed.
Initially, work on the highway project began in 2011 and was fully funded by the government of Guyana, whereby $2.7B was spent. However, the contract with the China Railway First Group Company Limited was signed in August 2014.
During the 2017 budget presentation, it was noted that $1.4B was budgeted for works for this year. Of that amount, $1.350B would come from the Chinese line of credit and $50M from the Guyana government.
For the work to be undertaken, utilities belonging to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) will be relocated, but within close proximity to the construction.
The total length of road to be rehabilitated is 17 kilometres. The four-lane widening will be a total of 7,400 metres and the two-lane upgrade will be a total length of 9,598 metres.

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