By Tamica Garnett
WITH no significant work currently ongoing, and a number of extensions having been issued, the Ministry of Public Works is looking into the option of terminating the contract for the upgrade of Hunter Street, Albouystown.

In May 2019, Surrey Paving and Ideal Engineering was awarded the $86.6 million contract for the geometric improvement of the street, which included raising the level of the road above the drains to prevent flooding, as well as the upgrade of the sidewalks on Hunter Street.
The contract was not for the entire length of the street, however, and covered only the section running from West Ruimveldt Front Road to Mandela Avenue.

The contract was initially scheduled to conclude in December, 2019, but only 94 per cent of the work is said to have been completed and there is currently no work ongoing on the road.

The road has been expanded and sand filled, but it remains in a deplorable state, even as vehicles continue to traverse. When contacted, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Public Works, Davina Bagot, told the Guyana Chronicle that a number of extensions had been issued to the company to complete the road works.

“Their contract has already expired and multiple extensions were granted. The last extension came to an end in August, 2020. The work is being done at a very slow pace and it’s likely that the contract will be terminated,” said Bagot.
Drivers traversing the street, and residents say the state of the road is seriously affecting them.
“You have to really mind how you does be walking because it barely have street for you to walk on,” commented 49-year-old resident, Bevan Murle.
Murle has lived on Hunter Street all his life.

“On afternoons, if you see how the traffic does be; sometimes the cars reaching right up to the gate. And when the rain falls, all the water coming back into the yard and flooding out the yard,” Murle said.

The residents are yearning to see an end to the project.
“They moving too slow and it going on too long. It’s going to be a year and change now, they need to get it looked after. That’s all we want, just for it to finish,” Murle pleaded.

Additionally, 38-year-old business owner, Sean Wray, told this newspaper that the situation has greatly affected his business. Wray runs a vulcanising shop on the street.

“It really make a mess of the business. The state of the road really cripple the business a lot,” Wray said.
Wray’s mother, on the other hand, who lives at the property, said she is more concerned about a leaning utility pole, which is tilting towards her house. She said the pole began to tilt due to the works on the road.

“I really frighten this post because what will happen if it fall on my house,” she said.
The company could not be contacted for a comment on the situation. Aside from the Hunter Street contract, the company was also awarded a $74 million contract for the “Rehabilitation of Sansculotte Street, Bun Bush Dam, East Canje Berbice”.