Region Five to undergo extensive road development as $1B in contracts signed

The Ministry of Public Works on Tuesday signed 21 contracts valuing some $1 Billion to rehabilitate 25 roads in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).

At the simple contract signing in the boardroom of the Regional Democratic Council building, Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill urged contractors to complete the projects by December 15.

“Guyana is a country that has turned the corner, people are no longer hoping that one day their roads will be fixed, they are seeing it being fixed and the ones who are in line to be next, they want it to be next today and not next tomorrow,” he said.

In the past two months, the government has advertised the rehabilitation of some 700 roads in Regions Four, Five, and Six, benefitting hundreds of contractors.

To date, 287 contracts have been signed in Region Six, with 201 contractors benefitting. Another 62 contracts were awarded to 61 contractors in Region Ten, with another signing scheduled for Thursday, November 9, in the region.

Added to this, some 222 contracts were awarded for the rehabilitation of roads along the East Coast Corridor with an additional 78 contracts to be signed, fulfilling the promise of completing 300 roads.

Minister Edghill noted that these projects will be executed simultaneously in keeping with President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s instruction “that in every single Region, the same thing is happening.”

The projects will be carried out in either rigid pavement concrete or traditional asphaltic concrete.

Meanwhile, Minister Edghill urged contractors to “give good diligence to quality” when executing works.

To ensure this is achieved the ministry had dispatched its engineers to lend assistance to all contractors.

Contractors are also given two weeks to notify the ministry of any issues that will result in the delay of the project.