The East Coast Demerara road-widening project was yesterday commissioned to the tune of US$43 million, US$6 million less than the projected cost.
The remaining sum will be used to extend the road construction and upgrading from Belfield to Mahaica, Minister within the Minis-try of Public Infrastructure Jaipaul Sharma announced during his address at the commissioning.
The road was constructed by Chinese firm, China Railway First Group. The company had won the bid in 2014 and commenced work in 2017.
The ceremony, which was held at Montrose Bridge, was attended by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and his wife Sita Nagamootoo, Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan and representatives of the Chinese Embassy.
Jeffrey Vaughn, Chief Works Officer at the Ministry of Public Infra-structure, in his remarks said the project lasted for two years and four months. According to Vaughn, the upgrading and widening of the thoroughfare had been in the works since March 2012. The government had undertaken a feasibility study after receiving a grant of US$688,950 from the Kuwaiti government. The study encompassed from Better Hope to Belfield.
In 2014, preliminary works on the drainage and widening of 6.25 kilometers of road from Better Hope to Good Hope began. The work for this phase of the project was done at the cost of $3 billion. At the conclusion of these works, Vaughn said, the momentum was created for the actual construction of the road.
He disclosed that government had approached Exim Bank of China for a loan for the full execution of the works.
“The Government of Guyana signed a framework agreement with the China Exim Bank for the execution of the works for this project on November 23, 2016 and the full loan agreement was signed on January 9, 2017,” Vaughn explained and stated that the delay in the construction of the road resulted in the untimely signing of the loan agreement.
Works on the 16.5 kilometers of road began in August 2017 and saw features such as the construction of concrete revetments at Mon Repos, Triumph, and Happy Acres, construction of shoulder kerbs and medians, installation of HDPE culverts, installation of street lights, traffic signs and road markings in some areas being added.
Other road works included the widening of seven bridges, reconstruction of three bridges at Montrose, Buxton and Golden Grove, extension of culverts along the project alignment and construction of concrete drains and covers on both sides of the alignment.
“The main purpose of this project was to upgrade the work to an acceptable standard in terms of capacity, junctions, structures, carriageway construction and surfacing. This project was able to improve the safety for a motorised traffic and ensure provisions of a safe efficient, environmentally friendly and sustainable road link through optimal utilisation of resources to the satisfaction of stakeholders,” Vaughn explained.
He pointed out that the construction work included overlaying and partial reconstruction of the pavement and widening of the four lanes from Better Hope to Annandale and upgrading works from Annandale to Belfield.
Vaughn in his address acknowledged that the project was not without challenges and pointed to poor project management with poor traffic control and site management, shortages of construction and aggregate materials with frequent equipment breakdowns and ineffective control of dust pollution.
Over the next year, the contractor will manage the usage of the road and will be on standby to repair any damage encountered, the chief works officer said as he noted that there are few aspects of the scope of works to be completed. These include installing of traffic signs and signals and installation of street lights.
Patterson, whose ministry held responsibility for the upgrading of the road said that he hopes with the safety features built into the road, there will be a reduction in accidents on the thoroughfare.
“I do hope that road users will be cautious … And I hope that the safety features built into this road will help contribute to the reduction of road fatalities and so my first request is to use the road safely and what it is intended to be used for,” he implored.
Touching on future plans, the minister said should his government be re-elected to office, Guyana will witness transformation like never before.
“In the next three years, we will build a new bridge over the Demerara River, complete this exact road that we started here all the way to Rosignol, we will upgrade the embankment road all the way to Mahaica; we will build a second entrance to Dia-mond Housing Scheme,” the minister promised.
He added that Guyanese will also see the construction of bypasses between the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara and at Mandela Avenue.
He highlighted too that there will be upgrades to the Linden-to-Lethem trail and the Lethem aerodrome. He told the gathering it is his vision to see street lights in every street of every community in Guyana.
There will be a whirlwind of developments, Patterson said.
He further announced plans to reintroduce public transportation to serve the transportation needs of the country. Under this vision, he said that school children, disabled persons and the elderly will benefit from subsidies for free travel.
The minister noted that this vision can only be achieved with the input of staff who are allowed to utilise their creativity and develop solutions to address issues in the sector.
“I will like to tell you that we will do this with the staff at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. The young, smart, energetic, and innovative staff who are not stifled and are allowed to do what they do best, civil engineering… they have been allowed to design and execute and not tied down to limitations of any good idea that will not work… we are going to do great things going forward,” Patterson assured the gathering yesterday afternoon.