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Preliminary works on new Mazaruni prison to begin this year
…despite delay of Bill of Quantities
Works for the new prison at Mazaruni, Region Seven may very well begin this year. Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, said that this is likely and that the project will be completed within two years.
An impression of what the new facility at the Mazaruni Prison will look like.
Despite the possibility of the preliminary works beginning before the end of the year, Ramjattan said on Thursday at Alliance for Change press conference, that there was a delay in the submission of the Bill of Quantities by the Trinidad and Tobago firm, Vikab Engineering Consultant.
“They had promised late last month but they have asked for an extension of time and that is going to be a big set of monies for the final construction of it and we might very well have to start some works this year but that will require a two year period to complete a modern prison extension at Mazaruni.”
Ramjattan added that currently, there is no other major activity of a contractual nature besides the construction of the 12 homes for prison officers.
“The construction of the 12 buildings will be done and we are going to move prison officers to take up positions and accommodation there.”
The Minister said four of the 12 houses have been completed and the others are almost completed. He said that based on his understanding, the remaining eight homes will be completed with modern facilities so that prison officers can move into them and benefit from more comfortable and better housing quarters.
“These are very good housing arrangements being made after years of literally derelict buildings at the Mazaruni area. So within a couple of weeks, the completion of the 12 buildings will be done.”
The decision to construct the new facility at Mazaruni follows recommendations made in the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) report into the fire at the Georgetown Prisons in March 2016.
The construction of the new prison is part of an extension programme initiated by the Government of Guyana. Based on information divulged by Minister Ramjattan in July, the cost of initial construction for the facility is $276M and was catered for in the 2017 National Budget.
This money will be used towards the foundation works and additional works will be allocated in the 2018 budget to carry out another phase which will entail the construction of walls.
After accessing the funding, the government had advertised for consultancy services which were funded through a grant from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). However, there was a delay in this leg of the programme because no local company had qualified for the project.
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