MOPI TO TAKE OVER MAINTENANCE OF LINDEN/LETHEM ROAD.

The Ministry of Public Infrastructure is expected to take back responsibility for repairs and maintenance of several interior roads amid a major delay by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to award contracts to maintain the roadways.

 

This was disclosed by Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson on Thursday night in the National Assembly. This was after opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira had pointed out the dire state of the road and called for a more strategic maintenance routine. Minister Ferguson said the Public Infrastructure Ministry will undertake full responsibility for the funding and execution of routine maintenance in advance of the wet, rainy season from June 2019.

 

She explained that the ministry will prioritise the use of chemical stabilisation in fair-weather road construction to ensure that the primary corridors have a greater climate-resilient carriageway. In the first half of 2018, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure expended in excess of $53M to maintain the stretch of road between Linden to Lethem.

Minister Ferguson told the National Assembly Thursday evening that the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) has awarded contracts to contractors to maintain stretches of the road.

Those contractors are mobilizing, but have been challenged by the rainy season, the minister noted. Intense rainfall in the last few months has damaged the road, making it impassable.

Minister Ferguson discredited claims made by the opposition that the government has done nothing over the last three years to maintain the road. “To say that the government has not started anything is not a fair statement and works are being executed,” Minister Ferguson said.

 

Meanwhile, the Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, offered apologies to residents and others using the roadway. He noted the challenge is not in getting construction underway, but drainage. Minister Patterson explained to the House that the surroundings of the road were flooded; as such, the draining of the road was not possible.

Phase one of the project covers approximately 125 kilometres of the road (Linden to Mabura Hill) and also includes a bridge across the Kurupukari River. Guyana secured funding from the British Government through its UK Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund (UKCIF) programme to complete the design. The contract for this consultancy will be awarded shortly.

The ministry is also evaluating tenders for the first phase of the Linden-Lethem road project. The Terms of Reference (ToR) for construction by the Guyana and Brazil governments will be ready in August.

 

Guyana Chronicle Report.