Public Works Ministry signs 1.8B in contracts for major road upgrades

Eight contracts valued at $1.5B were signed by the Public Works Ministry on Friday for major
road upgrades in several parts of Guyana. The signing was done in the presence of Public Works
Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill and Junior Minister within the ministry, Deodat Indar.m
Speaking with contractors, Edghill stressed that the roads are very important as residents have
been lobbying for them for a long time. The Moleson Creek to El Dorado Road in Region Six, at
a cost of $ 151,227,000 is among the major road works to be completed. The contract was
awarded to Shaffeeullah Sawmill.The Public Works Minister said that the road which is
currently a mud dam, will be upgraded to laterite, and later to asphaltic concrete at a length of
2500 meters and 7.2 meters wide. “You’re putting on this first phase and then you will have to
bring it to an asphaltic road because ultimately, when you have the bridge, it’s containerised
traffic and everything that is going to be passing there so in that whole scheme of things you will
have to eventually get up to asphaltic concrete road,” he said. He added that the road will have
several benefits. “It is two-fold. Number one, getting us to the abutment to facilitate the
alignment and secondly it’s a dam that is already used for farmers and people live in that area,”
the minister reiterated.

Guyanese Chief Transport Planning Officer, Mr. Patrick Thompson disclosed that consultations
are still ongoing for the final design of the bridge. He noted that the project will unlock a host of
economic possibilities between Guyana and Suriname. The minister revealed several other
contracts that were signed Friday included the rehabilitation/construction of Cane Grove Phase
Three (from the market) awarded to Avinash Contracting and Scrap Metal for $117,447,275, and
the construction of No.58 Village Road, awarded to The GuyAmerica Construction for $
640,713,500. The contract for the construction of the No.52 Village road was awarded to
Associated Construction Services for $239,732,000, lots 96 and 97 (maintenance) of the Mara
access road were awarded to Shaffeeullah Sawmill and Kascon Engineering Services for
$27,919,000 and $34,840,890 respectively.
Additionally, two contracts were also signed for projects in Region Seven. They include the
rehabilitation of the Itaballi to Puruni road, awarded to Rim Construction Inc. for $176,615,040
and the rehabilitation of the Bartica Potaro Road (Mile 6 to 19), awarded to Adamantium
Holdings for $77,311,641. Edghill said that the projects are important to the people of Guyana.
The Number 58 road, for example, will lead to the Canje Creek and open up new lands for
farming and foster the development of the agriculture sector. He pointed out that the unpriced
bills must be handed over to the NDCs in the areas, immediately so there will be no controversy
or bad community relations. He reminded the contractors to work diligently to complete the
works on time. “The government that is being led by President Irfaan Ali, we are delivering
services to these people, you are a partner in helping us get what we committed to the people,
ultimately the people are the beneficiaries,” he said. Junior Public Works Minister Deodat Indar
also urged the contractors to use local labour and services to foster economic activity in the
communities.