$11B in contracts to be signed shortly

CONTRACTS for construction of the much-needed Crane to Schoonord four-lane highway on the West Demerara will soon be signed, as the contracts have already been awarded through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, while speaking on the sidelines of an event in Essequibo earlier this week, noted that with the contracts already awarded, the ministry was looking to have the contracts signed as soon as possible.

The project has been divided into eight lots, which have been awarded to eight separate companies for a total of $11.81 billion.
The alignment for the new highway is approximately three miles long. The largest contract, worth $2.6 billion was Lot Four, which was awarded to Guyamerica Construction.
L’heureus Const. & Services Inc. has Lot Three for $2.1 billion.

Of the remaining lots, JS Guyana Inc. has been awarded Lot Eight to the tune of $927 million.
Puran Brothers Disposal Inc has been awarded Lot Seven to the tune of $1.07 billio; Vals Construction has been awarded Lot Six which costs $1.3 billion.
Lot Five, which costs $1.8 billion has been awarded to AJM Enterprise. Avinash Contracting & Scrap Metal Inc. has Lot Two for $992 million, and VR Construction has Lot One for $849 million.

A total of 32 bids had been submitted for the massive infrastructural work. Construction is expected to last for 16 months per lot.
The highway is part of continued efforts to reduce the build-up of traffic along the West Bank and West Coast of Demerara corridors.
President, Dr Irfaan Ali had announced plans for the new highway in late April 2022, noting that the increased traffic along that corridor has necessitated the construction of a channel for traffic flow.

The increased traffic was due to the many housing schemes developed in that region. This highway will precede the planned construction of a four-lane highway from Schoonord to Parika on the East Bank of Essequibo (EBE).

The road links are expected to open thousands of acres of lands for housing, agriculture and agro-related projects, tourism, and other related activities.
The construction of this particular road, however, is merely a component of a broader plan to modernise the country’s infrastructure and create myriad alternative and more convenient linkages.

At the centre of those plans is the intended construction of a new ‘fly-over’ Demerara Harbour Bridge, which will stretch from Nandy Park on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) to La Grange, WBD.

The new four-lane, high-span bridge, once completed, will replace the existing structure which was built in 1976, over four decades ago.