Major rehabilitation works on 25 roads in Region Ten, pegged at a total cost of $800 million, began on Sunday.
According to a Ministry of Public Works statement, published on its Facebook page on Saturday, Minister Juan Edghill and a team, including Ministry of Public Works Engineer Dwayne Roland and Regional Executive Officer Dwight John, visited a number of communities where rehabilitation works are slated to begin on Friday.
During his visit to Canvas City Back Road, Minister Edghill is reported to have said that he was well aware that rehabilitating the 25 roads would not alleviate all those communities’ issues. However, he noted it’s a start and that much more development is planned for the future.
“The government is not running and going anywhere. President Irfaan Ali will be here for a long time, and our commitment is to bring development to all the people, we did not look to see how people vote, we look to see where people living, and the fact the people living at Amelia’s Ward and Amelia’s Ward is a scheme that was developed under the PPP/C, one of the biggest schemes, it was clear that no maintenance was being done and so we are making some interventions now. We would have to come back with some new wave of interventions later because they have other sections that need to be done,” he was quoted as saying.
Edghill told residents that the ministry is asking them to give full cooperation “because the machine to clarify and to dig up will be in the way and it means that while the men are working, we can’t have taxi driving in because every time they have to stop for a taxi to pass, the work will not get done”
Edghill urged residents to endure the temporary inconvenience for the ultimate development of their own communities.
The release said Edghill also met with the contractors who would be undertaking the projects and urged them to work quickly, to put out quality work, and to also employ persons from those communities on the various road projects.
“We want full cooperation of the residents,” he said.
Edghill also said that the unpriced bill of quantities will be made available to the communities so that residents can keep track of their road projects.
The release said construction and rehabilitation of the Canvas City Back Road will be undertaken by JK Enterprise Inc. at a cost of $13.9 million. Rehabilitation of Bonus Street, Amelia’s Ward will be undertaken by Legalize Trucking & Contracting Service at a cost of $42.9 million, while rehabilitation of another Amelia’s Ward Street, City Gates, will be undertaken by Deodat Sewkumar Charran Construction and will cost $48 million.
A project at Block 22 Wismar, Linden, which would be undertaken by Morris Jeffrey Enterprise, was pegged at $25 million. “Now we have a $25 million contract that will begin on Monday, it would take about two weeks. Where the region would have ended their work, the region’s piece will connect to the Ministry of Public Works piece, and this long overdue fixing would have been done,” Edghill was reported as saying in the release, which said road rehabilitation in this area would benefit both residents from Block 22 and from Wisroc as well.
One of the largest projects among the slated works is the construction of the Moblissa Main Road at a cost of $119.9 million, to be undertaken by O&O General Contracting Services.
Among the areas covered on the List of 25, in this first road rehabilitation schedule are: Christiansburg, Wismar, Wisroc, Kara Kara, Lower Kara Kara, and Mackenzie.
Rehabilitation of internal roads in Kwakwani, to the tune of $157 million, is also slated to start soon. It is being undertaken by D&R Construction & Machinery Rental.
In a separate release on Monday, the ministry said that the work will improve access to schools, health centres, the police station and other public spaces in the community.
Roads will be graded and compacted, and finished with an asphalt surface with slipper drains, the release said.
Edghill, who met with the contractor and others on Monday, gave the assurance that his ministry would continue to work hand in hand with the Neighbourhood Democratic Council, to see the completion of these roads within the next six months, according to the contractual agreement.
In addition to the work being done by D&R Construction and Machine Rental, the ministry said Ideal Engineering Service Inc. has been awarded a $169.5 million contract for similar works, while Handel Garnette Construction Firms will upgrade the Hururu Road Network at a cost of $24 million.
