Work on the East Bank Demerara (EBD) four Lane highway project is being delayed by the inability of the utility companies to reconfigure their various infrastructure, coupled with the unavailability of material to replace existing ones.
This is according to Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon, who noted yesterday at his weekly press briefing that the delays are not only observed by the media but also by Cabinet.
According to him, the delays are occasioned by movement of utility services from their current positions to the margins of the new four-lane highway. He said that in some instances, it is also the unavailability of material that has produced a reasonable and “not unanticipated delay”.
He explained that the power and telephone companies will have to move poles and electrical cables and the water company will have to move conduits from the centre of the roadway over to the periphery of the new highway. “I don’t believe that once those impediments would have been overcome, the progress of the four-lane highway would continue to be delayed,” Luncheon stated.
Residents of several communities along the EBD have criticised the slow pace of the works, which have resulted in several problems, including long lines of traffic during rush-hour as well as inconvenience to many households in the area.
Two years ago, when the project was announced, the authorities had alluded to plans to improve the roadways in several EBD communities, such as Herstelling and Covent Garden, to alleviate the traffic problem. It was also announced during a public hearing that considerations were being made to carry out work during the night and there were also plans to request of workplaces to stagger the commencement of the working hours in anticipation of delays. However, none of these plans has materialised.
Residents of Bougainvillea Park have complained that roadway is being built too close to the community, while there are concerns by some persons that the utility services, mainly water, have been severely affected. At the moment, whenever it rains, the drains within the community are filled for hours before being drained off. Works teams have since opened a drain aback the community to relieve the area during heavy rainfall.
Residents noted that since the works teams have sand-filled the drainage canals in the area, no alternative forms of drainage were put in place. A government engineer noted yesterday that there are complaints which have been levelled by residents as regards drainage and according to him, plans are being put in place to address the issue.
Luncheon announced yesterday that Cabinet has granted approval for the installation of Guyana Water Inc (GWI) utility network to facilitate the four-lane highway project between Providence and Diamond. The project will be done in three lots: Providence to Covent Garden; Covent Garden to DDL; and then onwards to the Diamond Housing Scheme. The work will be done at a cost of $96.9 million.
Meanwhile, Luncheon noted that the East Coast Demerara (ECD) four-lane project is suffering a delay relating to the sourcing of a new contracting firm to carry out work to Lot One of the project. The previous contractor, Falcon Transportation and Engineering Services, had its contract terminated recently for substandard works as well as failure to meet the project deadlines.
Luncheon noted that attracting the services of a second contractor has not been dealt with conclusively. ”Interests have been around… among contractors,” he said but he noted that technical difficulties are being experienced assessing work which was done previously on the roadway. He said that there was some difficulty with the type of work that has been done, adding that some of the work has to be “re-done” and then “undone” and then “do all over again”. He said the process to remedy the problem is ongoing.
