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US$106.4M contract inked for Ogle to Eccles by-pass four-lane road
By Alliyah Allicock
The long awaited contract for a four-lane road link between Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) and Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) was signed on Friday.
Officials of the Ministry of Public Works, the Indian High Commission, Ashoka Buildcon Limited and Former President, Donald Ramotar turning the sod for the project at the intersection of the Rupert Craig Highway and the Ogle Airstrip Road on Friday.
(Seated from left) Ministry of Public Works Permanent Secretary, Vladim Persaud and Ashish Kataria, Director of Ashoka Buildcon Limited signing the contract for the new four-lane by-pass road yesterday.
The contract valued US$106.4M was signed at Ogle yesterday, by the Ministry of Public Works’ Permanent Secretary, Vladim Persaud and Ashish Kataria, Director of Ashoka Buildcon Limited, the contracted company.
The project is being financed through a loan provided by the Indian Export Import Bank.
Delivery brief remarks at the signing ceremony yesterday, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, reported that the project would see the construction of a 7.8 kilometres, four-lane highway. Each one of the lanes, he said, would be 3.6 metres wide and that there will be a median in the middle of the highway.
Some of the features include a connector to the Eccles access road, sidewalks and a number of structures constructed along the way.
Minister Indar who expressed gratitude to everyone that played a part in having the project come on stream said, the new road when completed, will bring a lot of relief to the citizen of this country.
The Minister was of the view, that the road would not only ease traffic congestion but it would also help commuters who wish not to travel through the city, to get to areas of the East Bank.
Substantive Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, at the ceremony remarked, this project is just phase one of connecting the East Coast to the East Bank.
Scenes from yesterday’s signing ceremony.
“The intent is that this must be able to get all the way linking the Ogle International Airport with the Timehri International Airport. This is just Phase one and in that linkage, there is a number of connected roads bringing to us to what is now commonly known as the East Bank road,” he briefed.
The road which would not only be connecting the two areas, would also open new lands for housing, agriculture and industrial development, Minister Edghill pointed out.
The project which is expected to be completed in two years, will be supervised by RITES Limited to the tune of US$3.2M.
Minister Edghill disclosed during his remarks, that the contract for the supervision service will be signed next week.
Bishop Edghill who urged the contractor to complete the project in a timely manner, also pressed for the employ of as many locals as they can.
“We want you to make your mark; we want you to do well. We want to get this road in a timely manner. We want you to engage as many as locals that you can engage; we want you to hire as many locals as you can hire and we want to ensure that while you work…You have good community relations,” Minister Edghill told the contracting company.
As it relates to the residents of the nearby communities like Ogle, Industry and Goedverwagting who would be impacted by the construction, the Minister pleaded for understanding and intimated that the inconvenience is only for a short time.
Ashoka Buildcon Limited which was awarded the contract earlier in the year through a public procurement process is a four decade old company. It is one of India’s largest construction groups that not only specialize in highways but also in large bridges, oil and gas, civil buildings, healthcare hospitals, power transmission and distribution systems and integrated technology projects.
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