37-mile Essequibo road to be ready in weeks
AFTER several years of waiting and complaining of undue hardship as a result of a deplorable road, residents of Essequibo Coast in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), will enjoy within another few weeks, a fully asphalted 37-mile stretch of main roadway complete with all roadworks. According to a source, yesterday, all roadworks for the Essequibo Coast road are expected to be completed by month-end. The Essequibo Coast road project is being undertaken by Dipcon at a cost of approximately $544M, following the termination by the Guyana Government of two contracts it had with Greek road-building firm Technodomi for constructing the roadway. Technodomi won the contracts in mid-December 1997, but the Government cited "non-performance" for terminating the agreement. The project, the first foreign-funded project to be started by the PPP/Civic administration after assuming office, was slated for completion on January 19, 1996. An initial contract agreement of $11M, was financed by the World Bank on October 20, 1993 and awarded to Paranapanema, a Brazilian road-building outfit. However, on July 25, 1995 that contract was terminated by the Government for "fundamental breaches". And in late 1995, a contract for preventative maintenance was given to a Cayenne outfit, Donzenac, with consent from the World Bank which advanced a US$1M loan for the purpose. That pact ended on August 31, 1996.  Follow the goings-on in Guyana
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