East Bank Demerara set for infrastructure boost with $4.1B road contracts

Signifying a commitment to improved infrastructure, residents along the East Bank of Demerara will soon witness the development of 100 roads, following the signing of $4.1 billion in additional contracts.

The signing ceremony, held at a residence in Friendship, involved collaboration between the Ministries of Public Works and Local Government and Regional Development.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar emphasised the importance of constructing high-quality roads during the contract signing. He urged the contractors to ensure the longevity of the roads, surpassing their expected lifespan for the benefit of the local community.

“Today is a good day because $4.1 billion in contracts will be signed and will go into the hands of the people who will tremendously benefit. This money is taxpayers’ money so treat it with care, do your projects up to standard so that everyone will benefit,” Minister Indar urged.

He further informed the contractors that engineers from the ministry will frequently visit the sites to ensure that works are being executed in a timely manner and testing will be done to ensure that they are up to standard. 

Some of the villages that will see improved roads include Eccles, Diamond, Grove, Covent Garden, and Friendship among others.

Additionally, during the construction period, the minister encouraged the contractors to clean up after their day’s work so that the residents would not be heavily inconvenienced.

“We have a lot of contractors who have been in the system for a while and some that are new. I am imploring the new ones to do the right thing so that they may be awarded other contracts when the time comes again,” Minister Indar stated.

Meanwhile, Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy stressed that the government has continued to show its unwavering commitment to developing the lives of citizens across the country.  

“The government has continued to show excellent leadership and so you the people of the country don’t have any doubt about where the monies that we are getting from revenues are going because they are being spent back and invested on our people,” Minister McCoy posited.

He encouraged the contractors to employ persons from right within the various villages so that they could help in the development of their communities.

“We not only build roads, schools, and bridges. We connect with you in the most important ways outside of these public infrastructures. We connect with you day-by-day, sitting in communities and discussing your ideas and thoughts,” the Public Affairs minister told the residents.

Since the administration took office in 2020, over 4,000 roads have been constructed along the East Bank of Demerara, paving the way for improved accessibility.