The design for the East Bank Demerara Public Road’s extension from Providence to Diamond will be ready by the end of February 2011, Consultant of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Simone Mangal has stated. An Interim National Multi-Stakeholder Road Committee for the East Bank Demerara Road Four Lane Extension was established and a joint workshop between the Ministry of Public Works and Communications and the IDB was held at Duke Lodge, Kingston on Thursday.
The objectives of the workshop were to update stakeholders on the status of the project and provide feedback on the initial consultation phase and the impact of stakeholders’ input on the feasibility and design study, environmental and social impact study, and definition of the overall project scope.
It also garnered stakeholders’ inputs on the following: a social engagement plan, environmental and social impact study, and economic feasibility study and any inputs into the final design.
Extensive consultations were conducted during August and September 2010 to support the preparation of an IDB loan request for the extension of the road. Mangal highlighted that stakeholders of this project are groups that utilise the road and are the intended beneficiaries of the project.
She emphasised that initially, the road was supposed to be extended from Providence to Grove; but following consultations with stakeholders, the four-lane extension will end at Diamond and an access road to that area will be created to facilitate the heavy traffic.
Representing the Ministry of Public Works and Communications was Rabindranauth Chandarpal, Transport Planning Officer, who provided an insight into the project and explained the importance of the East Bank Road.
He posited that the objectives of the project were to improve the road artery by reducing congestion, improving road safety and lowering transportation cost, since the road is one of the most important transportation arteries in Guyana as it provides paved road link between the interior and Linden, where a number of economic activities are conducted.
He noted that the current project does not include the village of Grove. However, designs are being developed for a road through Grove on the current alignment. The designs will be considered together with other information from studies on the upgrade of the road from Grove to Timehri under another loan agreement.
The expansion of the eight-kilometre stretch is being financed by a US$20M loan from the IDB. When completed, it will transform the social and economic lives of persons traversing the roadway. (GINA)