By Leroy Smith

BK INTERNATIONAL is very confident that it would be able to meet the deadline and complete its leg of the Fourth Road Project within a three-year span, of which fourteen months have already elapsed.

With its new asphalt plant which has the capability to produce 160 tons of asphalt per hour, and with its project partner, Surrey Paving and Aggregate out of Jamaica, already on the ground, works on the Fourth Road Project have been accelerated.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle during its site visit on Tuesday, Lionel Kandasammy of BK International, the man overseeing the joint venture (JV), explained that 90% percent of the machinery and equipment presently being used on the road works are owned by BK International.

Last year, when this publication did an update on the road project, we were told by persons close to the Jamaican company that its equipment would be in the country by the early part of February as, according to the agreement, both BK International and Surrey Paving and Aggregate Company would be taking on the project 50/50.
Based on the situation on the ground and the resources being used in the execution of the project, the Jamaican company has, to date, failed to honour that part of its agreement.

Prior to installation of the newly acquired asphalt plant last year, which came into operation earlier this year, there was a very low production level of asphalt to feed the road project; but, at the moment, the plant is producing approximately 100 tons of asphalt an hour for the works. That amount has seen the works accelerating tremendously, according to Kandasammy, and he is of the view that when Surrey Paving and Aggregate Company’s equipment arrives in Guyana, which also includes its own asphalt plant, the works would go forward even farther, and would see it being completed on time. Cost overruns are also not likely to occur, he said.

Kandasammy explained that once the paver plant owned by Surrey Paving and Aggregate Company arrives, the paving of the road would be done from the two extremes, making it easier for the engineers to manage traffic. And by that time, he said, the present asphalt plant would meet its full capacity of 160 tons per hour.

He stressed that there are enough materials to feed both pavers, and as such, once both pavers are in operation, a tremendous tonnage of asphalt would be produced as per plan; and this would increase the amount of paving that can be done in a day, and by extension a week.

The senior BK employee stated that the quality of works being executed is in keeping with international standards and in accordance with the agreement signed between the Government of Guyana and the Caribbean Development Bank.

The Fourth Road Project is being executed at an approximate cost of US$44.3 million. It entails the upgrading of 30.5 kilometres of road between Hydronie and Vreed-en-Hoop along the West Coast Demerara.

The project does not only cater for road expansion, but also for construction of footpaths and reconstruction of several bridges, culverts and cycle paths. The project is at the moment approximately 25 percent complete; and once all necessary systems are put in place by the end of this month or by early next month, Kandasammy is very confident that the works would be completed on time.

As of Tuesday, 4.5 kilometres of paving had already been completed up to the time of the site visit to the location. The paving is presently being done incrementally and at the moment there is an average of about 200 tons of paving per day, which would soon increase to 300. One crew would be doing 300, and when the other team installs its plant, that team is expected to add 300 tons of paving per day, which would see approximately 600 tons of paving per day being done, providing the weather permits, Kandasammy explained.

On the question of environmentally friendly practices, Kandasammy explained that there is not an issue with dust pollution, since the company has been utilizing the water traps to keep the dust down, something that this publication was indeed able to witness.

He also spoke of the low noise coming from the asphalt plant, as well as very little emissions from its operations, as all safety and environmentally-friendly mechanisms have been put in place, something else which again this publication managed to witness.
The engineers on the ground however did made reference to the bugbears they are faced with, and as expected, it had to do with utilities. This newspaper was told that some amount of utilities have been hampering the free flow of works, and the most constant utility affecting workmen has been the cables belonging to the telephone company GT&T.

BK International has however indicated that the Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, has been looking into the matter personally, and has been engaging the telephone company to ensure that the issue is addressed properly, so that the works can progress.