President Irfaan Ali on Saturday expressed his disappointment with the pace at which the East Bank Berbice main access road is being done by the Ministry of Public Works, as according to him despite having the finances and dry weather, the engineers have been going slow.
In December 2021, Ali had released a further $100 million for work on the Upper East Bank Berbice main access road, which at that time had been in a deplorable state for a number of years. Speaking to residents at a community meeting in Mara, Ali had said that the $100 million, which would be made available immediately, would cover about six kilometres of the road.
On Saturday, he visited the community along with Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill, who reminded residents that one of the commitments during President’s Ali visit two years ago was that the road would be paved from the back going forward (that is from Mara heading outwards). Edghill revealed that so far the first kilometre had been completed. He said that they had promised to do one kilometre per year.
Additionally, he said, major maintenance was ongoing on certain parts of the road, which were not ready for asphalt due to location, while the shoulders were strengthened and drainage was done to ensure that the road was accessible throughout the year despite weather conditions.
Furthermore, Edghill stressed that the materials and also the truckers who took the materials into the area came from Mara and the Berbice area.
However, residents expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of the work, and President Ali agreed. “I am totally disappointed with the speed of the road, the speed at which they are going. This engineer, I read the riot act to him the last time; they moved a bit and I spoke to the minister seriously,” he told them.
Ali then turned to Edghill and asked whether he was satisfied with the pace of the work. Edghill hesitated initially then said, “Well I would agree we could do much more”.
Ali asked again whether Edghill, as minister, was satisfied: “No, no, are you satisfied with the pace of work?”
Eventually, Edghill responded, “No I am not satisfied.”
Ali then stressed, “I am dissatisfied with the engineers and the speed at which they are carrying this work… We have made money available, you have the weather, they have no excuse.”
According to Ali, in order to fast-track the project, he will soon meet with local contractors and possibly set up a project to carry out the work. He explained, “I am going to change the system, what we will do when we go back, we will get some of the regional contractors to come in for a meeting, and let’s see if we can do a project to get it done.”
