– Minister Benn
THE Ministry of Public Works remains focused on infrastructural advances and the priorities remain the same, subject Minister, Mr. Robeson Benn said yesterday.
In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, he reiterated that the priority areas are sea defence, major road works, improvement in water transport, the Linden/Lethem road, and the major project the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA). “We have settled arrangements with respect to the construction of a new airport and runway extension,” Benn disclosed.
Cabinet, in November, approved a US$138M design and construction contract with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC).
The project, which was first announced several months ago, is expected to include extending the runway to a total of 10,800 feet to accommodate large transatlantic aircraft, such as the Boeing 747, constructing a new terminal building, acquisition of eight boarding bridges and installation of other state-of-the-art equipment.
Among those will be elevators, escalators and x-ray scanners using three-dimensional technology and flight information and security monitoring systems.

Projected traffic
Once completed, the development would ensure that the CJIA is able to meet the needs of projected traffic for several years into the future and become a hub for regional and continental traffic.
Minister Benn said the road works that are being completed include the Black Bush Polder Road, where much has been done on the 22-mile stretch by BK International, the contractor building it with concrete and asphalt.
He mentioned the widening of the East Bank Demerara highway into a four-lane, from Providence to Diamond, which has been divided into three lots, with Lot 1 starting at New Providence and ending at Prospect Village in the vicinity of the Guyana Water Inc. installation; Lot 2, from Prospect to Diamond, near the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) plant and Lot 3, from DDL to the Diamond/Grove intersection.
All is projected to cost US$22M, with US$20M being provided through an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan and the remainder by the Government of Guyana.
The new highway extension will include the building of bridges and culverts, vehicle parking, bicycle lanes, pedestrian crossings and bus stops, in an effort to increase safety and significantly reduce disruption of the traffic flow. The existing four-lane thoroughfare stretches from Ruimveldt in Georgetown to New Providence and Benn said a design is currently being crafted to take it as far as Timehri.
According to him, funding is also currently being sought for finalisation of the designs for widening the East Coast Demerara road, from Better Hope to Buxton, and ultimately, up to Golden Grove.
He revealed, too, that the feasibility study for upgrading of the carriageway from Linden to Lethem has been done.
Meanwhile, Minister Benn confirmed that the roll on/roll off ferries are expected to be here around December 19.
He said the vessels are, presently, anchored in neighbouring Trinidad, where administration and insurance issues are being sorted out.

Critical elements
However, Benn said preparations for their docking at Parika and Supenaam are in no way related to the delay in the boats arriving in Guyana. While works are ongoing at those terminals, the critical elements will be completed to accommodate the scheduled operation of the ships.
He explained that, once the boats arrive, a five-member team of Chinese technical experts will be working on them for two weeks to do some modifications, since they have been on the water for two months en route to Guyana.
After the two weeks, there will be a three-week outfitting and training period, the latter of which is critical, Benn stressed.
When they arrive, the ferries will complement the current fleet operating in the Essequibo River, improving the capacity of marine travel from Parika to Supenaam, which, in the past, had been a sore issue for commuters.
Another area where progress is continuing is the highway lighting.
“We will continue to upgrade the highway lighting in the country,” Benn said, although noting that funding for it has been expended.
In an invited comment, Traffic/ Road Safety Engineer, Mr. Nigel Erskine revealed that monies are expected to be allocated for lighting in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam) in 2012.
He said no specific allocations were made in 2009 or 2010. However, savings from street lighting projects in other areas were used in Region Two and, in 2011, Cabinet approved $24M to continue the process.