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Mid-Year Report reveals…$1B already expended on Sheriff-Mandela Road project
The Sheriff-Mandela Road Project.
Kaieteur News – Within the first six months of 2021, the sum of $1B has been expended on the Sheriff-Mandela road expansion project. This is according to the 2021 Mid-Year Report.
It was also mentioned in the report that the work done on the project thus far includes the asphaltic paving of Sheriff Street from Rupert Craig Highway to Durey Lane, preparatory works for the over laying of asphaltic concrete on Sheriff Street and Mandela Avenue, the roundabout at the intersection of Sheriff and David Streets and the Railway Embankment, the widening and construction of drains on both sides of Sheriff Street and Mandela Avenue, and the placing of a median which commenced at the intersection of Mandela Avenue and Homestretch Avenue.
It was noted that the US$31M road project was badly mismanaged by the previous A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) administration. When the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Government took office, it was keen to note that it had to expend a further $134M for works on the road project.
Kaieteur News previously reported that in November 2019, the road expansion project was halted after the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) ceased funding due to non-compliance of the Contractor with health, safety and traffic management standards.
At the time of the suspension, Former Minister with responsibility for Public Works, David, noted that the issues brought about by the Contractor’s negligence had persisted, even though the company was being engaged on its shortcomings. “Sinohydro was warned on several occasions to rectify these issues but unfortunately, the majority of failures identified remained outstanding,” the former Minister had stated.
Nevertheless, the Public Infrastructure Minister at the time said that the Contractor will foot the bill for road safety works undertaken by the government.
It was reported that with an injection of $6.4B, the road project will see the rehabilitation of pavements, construction of bridges, culverts and a pedestrian overhead walkway at North Ruimveldt, along with traffic and drainage upgrades. It is the intention to also extend the design life of the pavement and all roadway structures to a minimum of 20 years from the expected end of construction.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill during an interview in September had stated that the project was plagued with several setbacks. He noted that the first setback was when the PPP/C Government attained office and realised that nothing was done on the project for more than a year.
He also stated, “The programme was filled with controversy. The Consultant, the Contractor and the Project Engineer were at each other, and not a good environment existed…”
According to the Minister, this then led him to asking everyone back at the negotiating table while adding that by September 2020, work had recommenced on the road. He further stated that a drone image would show the work that has been done thus far.
The Minister also revealed that the Contractor had contacted him indicating that he would like to start buying asphalt from the Government’s asphalt plant, since his subcontractor was unable to provide the asphalt in the quantity and at the rate he would like in order to get the project moving.
Kaieteur News understands that the adjusted deadline for the project’s completion is set for October 31, 2021.
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