Essequibo Coast Road completed
Seven years after the first contract was signed and following the dismissals of two contractors and interminable delays, Essequibians can finally breathe a sigh of relief--the Essequibo Coast Road was completed on February 10. Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Anthony Xavier, announced its completion at a press conference in his ministry's boardroom yesterday. The minister acknowledged that the road had been on the ministry's agenda for quite a long time. Paranapanema, a Brazilian firm, had signed a US$9.6 million contract with the government to upgrade the 37-mile stretch of roadway between Charity and Supenaam on October 20, 1993. Paranapanema was subsequently fired and a second contract awarded to Technodomi, a Greek company for US$11.2 million on December 17, 1996. However, Technodomi's contract was terminated in February 1999. This followed claims that stone had been incorrectly imported for this and other projects and delays by the company, which had also requested that government pay its creditors. The administration had indicated that it would have sold Technodomi's equipment when the road was completed and cleared the outstanding balances to creditors. However, Technodomi had proceeded to the court when Dipcon Engineering Ltd, a Trinidadian firm, became involved in the road project and was granted an order preventing government from using its equipment and materials. Dipcon finally completed the road last week. Meanwhile, Xavier said that his ministry had made the "most significant improvements" under the Roads Division as it had built 37 roads in Regions, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six. According to the minister works have been executed on the Linden to Lethem road with over $15 million being spent on rehabilitation works. The ministry has been able to save money from the project, which saw the rehabilitation of almost all the major roads in Linden and as such the ministry was able to extend its work programme in Linden. He added that it had completed and commissioned the Unity-Mahaica deviation and had started design works on the Mahaica to Rosignol road. The ministry's most remarkable achievement in the Roads Division, he said, was the proposal by the Brazilians to fund the Linden to Lethem road. He said that the Roads Division had been so effective, he was contemplating extending its capacity, as for last year the roads team achieved 100% completion on all its projects. The minister also took the opportunity to clear up the assumption by many Guyanese that the ministry was responsible for all roads in Guyana. He stressed that the ministry was in fact responsible for all the "declared public roads." He said that citizens should seek to have their concerns about roads in the towns and villages addressed by the authorities who collect their rates and taxes.
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