East Bank four-lane to be fully completed in 2015 – Works Ministry

By Vahnu Manikchand

Despite efforts to have the East Bank Four-lane Extension Project completed by the end of this year, the project has now been set to be fully completed in the first quarter of next year.

Project delays have become a disgusting and frustrating phenomenon in Guyana; however, according to the Works Ministry’s Roads and Bridges Department Manager Ron Rahaman, two of the lots will be completed by this year, but the other will not be finished until the first quarter of 2015.

In an interview with Guyana Times International, Rahaman explained that work in Lot One cannot be completed by year-end as was initially projected.

He disclosed that Lot One, awarded to Dipcon Engineering, is only 40 per cent completed. Works on Lots Two and Three are 64 and 40 per cent completed respectively.

The Engineer noted that Lots Two and Three, with the exception of Diamond High Bridge, are scheduled to be completed by December. The High Bridge, he stated, will not be completed as work has recently begun. Currently, the contractors are working on driving up the piles on the western side of the bridge.

The entire bridge is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year, along with Lot One.

Rahaman went on to explain that work on the second lot, being done by GuySuCo, is progressing well with the second two-lane also complete. He pointed out that the split-road design was done because of efficiency rather than filling the trench.

Meanwhile, an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded feasibility study is currently being conducted from Grove to Timehri to expand and upgrade the two-lane highway. The intention of the Ministry is to widen the road to include parking and a sidewalk, creating more space and convenience.

In May 2011, Cabinet had given its no-objection to the US$1.6 million contract to improve the access road leading to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

Government had subsequently obtained US$20 million from the IDB for the East Bank Road Extension Project. The main objectives of the project are to enhance urban and sub-urban mobility and safety by lowering transport costs and reducing accident rates via the expansion of the East Bank Demerara Main Road between Providence and Diamond from two lanes to four lanes.