Procurement for the construction of the Ogle to Diamond Road is expected to commence at the start 2021 now that the scope of works has been redesigned and reviewed, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill HAS SAID.
Edghill told Stabroek News recently THAT the ministry is collaborating with the Indian government to obtain the necessary approvals to proceed with the advertising for bidding.
With this stage almost completed, Edghill said that he anticipates the process starting early in the New Year.
Just after taking office, the PPP/C-led government amended the design of the proposed Ogle to Diamond bypass road to bring the project costs in line with the funds made available by the Indian Government.
During a visit to India in January 2015, then president Donald Ramotar had received a US$50 million loan commitment from the Indian Exim bank to fund the road project.
The procurement process will see invitations extended to international bidders and will be monitored by the Indian Government.
Under the project, the first phase of the road is to be constructed from Ogle, East Coast Demerara, to Haags Bosch on the East Bank and will later have a connection to Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
A new connection point in the second phase had to be established since that was a factor driving up the cost of the project. The area in Mocha, where a section of the road would have passed through is swampy and millions would have be spent to develop the area to facilitate the connection.
Just after taking up office, Edghill had said this was a priority project for the new PPP/C government and requested that engineers reexamine the design of the road and its costs to have it fall in line with cash available.
Under the former APNU+AFC administration, alterations were done to the design of the road resulting in the cost rising from US$50 million to US$208 million.
In 2017, APNU+AFC Minister of Finance Winston Jordan had signed off on the US$50 million loan with the Exim Bank of India for the construction of a 20-kilometre road from Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara, to Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara.
The new road link is expected to serve as a corridor for communities on the East Bank, including Perseverance, Providence, Eccles, Peter’s Hall and Aubrey Barker Road. It will also provide a bypass away from the city.
During the feasibility study period, which established the road alignment, Jordan said, “our engineering teams encountered a swampy area between Ogle and Diamond.”
Indian company RITES Limited was awarded a US$1.3 million contract to undertake a feasibility study.
In July last year, the Ministry on its Facebook page had released a short video of the design for the proposed road link. The design featured a four-lane highway and two roundabouts to assist with the flow of traffic. With the change in work plans, the designed has been modified.
