MINISTER of Transport & Hydraulics Robeson Benn announced that the much anticipated reconstruction and upgrade of the East Bank Berbice (EBB) highway will begin in October this year.

He disclosed too that Government also plans to carry out improvements on the Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue roadway for a distance of 7.2 kilometres (KM) at a cost of US$25M with funding from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
He made the announcements last week during his Budget presentation to the National Assembly
With respect to the EBB highway, he said: “We had initially anticipated that earlier in this year we would have started works with respect to this road but because of the funding requirements for the design that is required, changes in the allocation of funding had to be made.”
He added: “I want to assure the House and to assure Berbicians on the EBB that the works on this road will start in the fourth quarter of 2014, bringing much needed relief to them and opening up the agricultural lands there.”
During his presentation of the 2014 national budget, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh had said that the work to be done on the EBB highway will be the complete reconstruction of 6 km from Stanleytown to Everton and the upgrading of 11.5 km from Belle Vue to Light Town.
With respect to the CDB-funded Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue improvements, Minister Benn said that the Government has had consultations at the local and technical levels on it, and the prequalification of contractors for the civil works is in progress, while actual works will commence in June this year.

(By Clifford Stanley)