— Edghill talks tough with Hunter Street, Sheriff/Mandela Road contractors

CONSTRUCTION company, Vieira 66 Logistics, is expected to complete works on Hunter Street between West Ruimveldt Front Road to Mandela Avenue, Georgetown by April 14, 2020 after issues identified to be rectified were sorted out Wednesday during a site visit by Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill.
Described as one of the main arteries into the City, Minister Edghill inspected the roadworks during a downpour. Hunter Street takes off much of the traffic from the East Bank corridor into Georgetown. Vieira 66 Logistics took over the contract in December last after Surrey Paving and Ideal Engineering, which was awarded the contract in May 2019, failed to complete the project, leaving derelict and shoddy work behind.
The contract awarded to Surrey Paving and Ideal Engineering was terminated.

“All the issues identified to be rectified on Hunter Street have been identified, for example, there is need for adjustments for drainage at West Front Road, and we plan to do those works on the Easter Weekend when the traffic is minimised and the road is up to the level of crush and run and we had to get an agreement of how we proceed where Hunter Street ends and where the four-lane highway begins. This morning we were able to get a decision,” Minister Edghill explained.
He noted that it makes no sense for Hunter Street to be completed and it cannot be immediately connected to the four-lane highway since the intent is to have a free flow of traffic. “Like any other project there are teething issues, but instructions are clear, we must get it fixed, we must get value for money and we must get it in good timeline and that is the strong message we are sending,” he said, noting that all contractors are cooperating.
Meanwhile, on a visit to the Sherriff/Mandela Road Expansion Project, Minister Edghill said that he is satisfied that work is being done but issues of quality will be addressed by the engineers as the project is behind time and the agreed extension is August 2021.

WORK MUST BE DONE
He noted that if it rains in the day then work must be done at night.
“The fact that the roundabout is not asphalted or paved has caused a snail pace in the traffic on a daily basis. My instruction is that works will commence on Sheriff Street to the cultural centre and works will be done in the night when the curfew hour begins and they should end at 04:00 hours when the curfew is lifted for the movement of traffic,” Minister Edghill said. He related that all contractors and their teams should make use of the nights which will significantly increase the pace of works countrywide. The advancement of the Sheriff Street construction, he explained “will start from next week Monday and we will put out advisories to notify persons of the night work.” He said when the road is finally completed the quality should be exactly like the West Coast Demerara roadway since an international paving firm has been sub-contracted to do add the final touches.

All decisions and instructions to contractors, he said, must be done in writing to prevent any misunderstandings.
The site visits, he said, was to identify progress on all road works, bottlenecks, and problems, solutions, and policy interventions to expedite all projects.
Additionally, resident engineer and head supervisor of SRKN Consultant Firm, David Blake, said any waviness seen or experienced on the roadways under construction is not the final stage. “The first layer of asphalt is there to even out depressions and bumps and so on, the first layers has its own corrective works in preparation for the final layer which will be done by an international paving company, that comes at the end of the project, before the road marking takes place,” the consultant explained.
Local project coordinator of SRKN Engineering, Krishna Narine, said night works will have to be done on the Sheriff Street project since during the day the level of traffic is a lot and if an attempt at paving is done during the day there will be massive disruptions to the traffic.

“This will defeat the entire purpose of what we are trying to accomplish, that is why we are taking advantage of the curfew period to pave it at night, and by doing this we are reconfiguring the timeline for the project. We have the May/June rain coming up and we have to do the paving before the rainy season,” he explained.
After the rainy season, he said a final layer of asphalt will be placed on the roadways.
Chief Works Officer (ag) within the Ministry of Public Works, Ron Rahaman said works have progressed but there is still a lot to be done and deficiencies in the medians will have to be addressed. “We are pleading with the public to abide with all notices of road closure and cooperation is necessary. We are working with the contractors to ensure that by August the project is significantly completed,” he said.
The contractor will be responsible for correcting any defects that may occur within the first year of the road’s completion under the defects liability period of the contract.