The Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MoPI) returned more than $4 billion in loans provided for the execution of various projects after seeing very little to no movement on four projects, says MoPI Minister, David Patterson.
Chief among those projects was the $2.1 billion East Coast to East Bank Bypass road, funded by the Government of India. MoPI Technical Services Manager Nigel Erskine had previously told Stabroek News that works on the Ogle to Diamond bypass road were expected to begin in the final quarter of 2019 year as the preliminary report, which suggests that a four-lane highway is most feasible, was handed over in October 2018 by Indian company, RITES.
Erskine had said that the draft design was expected in the first quarter of last year, and that the final design was expected a month after that, and thereafter the tender documents made ready. He also said that bidding would take a further four to six months, after which the contractor was expected to be mobilised and ready to start the works.