The completion of the $54.5M Wakenaam airstrip is likely to be delayed as the project remains only in its initial phase.
Region Three Chairman Julius Faerber told Stabroek News on Tuesday that the project is likely to be completed within the next few months. April month end had been the projected deadline for the completion of the strip. While Faerber could not pronounce on what was responsible for the delay, he said he visited the area recently and observed groundwork being carried out, with sand and loam being mixed at the project site. Faerber said that the main purpose of the strip would be for emergency operations to and from the island. He said it may also be beneficial to the tourism industry.
During the 2010 budget debate in February, Public Works Minister Robeson Benn told the National Assembly that the project was likely to be completed by the end of this month. Benn was at the time responding to queries made by PNCR MP Mervyn Williams about the benefit of the project to the residents on the island.
Stabroek News understands that the project was awarded to one Komal Singh of Canal Number One, West Coast Demerara. Under the scope of works, the project was expected to be completed within a five-month period, after work commenced on the 2000 feet long by 50 feet wide runway in January this year.
The airstrip is being constructed on the eastern side of Wakenaam, in the vicinity of Meer-Zorg. According to a resident in the area, it is being built “in a far off place, where people don’t normally go.” Wakenaam residents had previously voiced concern about the project, saying that the island is in need of other forms of development rather than an airstrip; they cited the high rate of unemployment, fragile sea defence, and the development of the island’s agricultural potential as well as the need for a water treatment plant as priorities that needed to be addressed.
Residents on the sister island Leguan had objected to the construction of an airstrip there as well. According to Faerber, the administration is “still” sourcing land for that project. Minister Benn stated in February that the required land would have to meet the requisite geographic conformity for the project to get underway.
In this year’s budget, some $149.9M was allocated for work on the two projects; in addition to rehabilitation and maintenance work on other airstrips across the country. In the 2009 Budget, some $184M was allocated for the projects but they never got underway and the authorities stated that the delay was related to the acquisition of land.
