APNU+AFC Member of Parliament (MP) Annette Ferguson yesterday grilled Public Works Minister Juan Edghill about the delay in the Cemetery Road expansion project and heard that superstitions and weather had been factors. A publication in the State-owned Guyana Chronicle newspaper in March had stated that the road work in question was “progressing smoothly” and was expected to be completed by July 19, 2023.
Ferguson made reference to this article and, noting yesterday’s date (July 20), asked Edghill to state whether or not the project would be completed in this month and if not to give the cause of the delay.
In response to the question, the Minister of Public Works admitted that the project was in fact to-date uncompleted, and proceeded to note two major reasons for the delay:
“This project started on time, shortly after signing of the contract, but the evidence is there, and it’s now known around, that the contractor has had to change several teams because of the location of the project and the superstitious nature of our country. When some members of staff started falling sick, there was some interpretation by some that it had to do with some supernatural force that was at work and the rest of it and workers started staying away from the project. So that’s one of the things that delayed the project. Secondly, the other cause of delay was rainfall… All of us would have seen and known that the drains in the Cemetery Road alignment have been consistently flooded and waters from the burial ground has been coming in”, he said.
He added that they have sought some engineering interventions on where to dispose of the water and they have tried several different avenues. As such, he noted, there have been some improvements and the works that were once gripped by sloth have been progressing.
Edghill declined to commit on a specific date for the completion of the project but said that contractors and engineers have been engaging and instructions have been given to contractors for speeding up of the project.
“The Ministry has indicated that it has no objections to subcontracting elements of the project since there are two bridges and two culverts to be built along with the widening and the fencing,” he stated.
Edghill also noted that they are anticipating that by the end of this year the project, in its entirety, should be completed.
Ferguson then noted that during the upcoming rainy seasons it is anticipated that residents in the environs of Independence Boulevard will be flooded since the completed road works are higher than the houses in the environs. In response to this Edghill stated that thought the roads are higher, the residents of Albouystown would have seen drainage works done to combat flooding in the area.
On August 23 last year, Stabroek News reported Edghill as saying that Cemetery Road would be upgraded into a four-lane road.
“In Cemetery Road, we are now upgrading it. Both of the carriageways from Princes Street all the way out to Mandela Avenue, we are ensuring that you can get traffic two lanes going and two lanes coming. So Cemetery Road turning into a four-lane,” Edghill said.
He was at the time delivering an address at the launch of the Independence Boulevard and Cemetery Road enhancement projects.
Edghill said then that Le Repentir cemetery would also be fenced and concrete drains would be constructed on the eastern and western carriageways. In the centre, there will be a walk-way.
“In case somebody concern… we ain’t digging up no grave. We are going to fence the burial ground with a proper fence on both sides,” Edghill said.
Currently, Cemetery Road has two lanes. It is the entry point to the Le Repentir Cemetery. As such, most times when there are funerals, there tends to traffic congestion.
