The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will soon embark on a feasibility study for the upgrade of the Parika stelling, for which works are expected to begin next year.
Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, during a ceremony for the commissioning of the West Demerara road on Wednesday, said the study will begin on July 27th, and will take approximately six to eight months to be completed. Following that, construction works should commence in 2019.
L O’Reilly Lewis, of the CDB, in his address at the ceremony, said that the company will later this month present to its Board of Directors a paper for studies to inform designs for not only the construction of a new stelling at Parika but also the upgrade of the Lethem aerodrome and the construction of a new bridge at Wismar.
Lewis, who touched on other studies the CDB is engaged in, related that in May the bank approved a loan for studies that will “inform decisions for the construction of water treatment plants and the upgrade of water supply infrastructure in regions 1,2,3,5, 6 and 8, which is expected to benefit nearly 17,000 households.”
Lewis also mentioned a feasibility study expected to inform the designs for the upgrade of 122 kilometres of roadway from Linden to Mabura and a river crossing at Kurupukari. This study is being done under the CDB/UK Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund programme. Also under this programme is a study to inform the designs of six kilometres of sea defence and ancillary waterfront development works between Georgetown and Liliendaal and the construction of the Stabroek Market and Vreed-en-Hoop stellings.
Lewis had also noted that the CDB is currently involved with assisting the government in its Sea and River Defence Resilience Project, which includes the reconstruction and improvement of approximately six kilometres of sea and river defence. This project, he said, will impact approximately 45,000 people in 9,000 households, serving residents in regions 2, 3, 4 and 6.
