Minister Edghill resolves issues along section of Sheriff-Mandela Road

—says decisions assure traffic safety, ease for doing business

Minister of Public Works, Hon. Bishop Juan Edghill on Tuesday engaged several businesses between East La Penitence and Ruimveldt, Georgetown, to address concerns raised about the placement of some components of the Sherriff-Mandela Road project.

At the Rubis Gas Station at East La Penitence, Minister Edghill engaged the owner on a proposal he submitted to the Ministry of Public Works to have a break in the median along that section of the roadway, once completed.

Minister Edghill explained that the proprietor wanted that part to be a free-flowing zone for traffic in both the northern and southern directions, to allow easy ingress to the gas station. The Minister said that request was denied due to safety concerns.

“The [Ministry’s] commitment is his supply tanker to carry fuel to his gas station will be able to make the U-turn at Meadow [Brook Drive] with the traffic signal, and if there is not enough space when it’s heading north, they could go all the way back to the roundabout and come back down north,” Minister Edghill told DPI.

The roundabout is being constructed near the North Ruimveldt Secondary School to join the Sheriff-Mandela Road expansion project and the Eccles-Mandela Road project at Aubrey Barker Road and Cane View Avenue.

“There will be no breaking in the median at the gas station. That is not going to be allowed. That is not going to be safe because people are going to be cutting across a four-lane traffic to head north or to head south. It’s not going to make sense,” he explained.

The Minister also addressed concerns near the John Fernandes lorry terminal and the Edward B. Beharry and Company Limited on Mandela Avenue.

Concerning the intersection at Cemetery Road which is utilised by both companies, Minister Edghill engaged the business owners on accessing the Sheriff-Mandela Road once it is fully upgraded.

As at the previous location, the Minister maintained that there will be no break in the median at the front of the Beharry company, owing to similar road safety concerns.

“The decision we are moving toward is putting the traffic light here [in front the entrance of John Fernandes container terminal] to facilitate major industrial development and all that this business has to facilitate here in Guyana.”

Minister Edghill said an 88-foot reserve between the two companies will be improved to allow traffic headed west and east of the Beharry company access to the traffic light to utilise Mandela Avenue.

“Economic activity will not be interrupted. Customers will be safe and the users of the main throughfare will be minimally inconvenienced, so we can reduce the risk of traffic accidents and we want to ensure nobody has an advantage over another.”

Further, the Minister stated that the Government’s mandate is not to grant preferences to companies while executing development projects.

“We want to ensure that there is equity and our decision making is based upon principled positions that are governed by regulations,” he said.

Minister Edghill was accompanied by the Ministry’s engineers and the project consultant.  

The Sheriff-Mandela project is more than 60 per cent complete.