COMMUNITIES along on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) will benefit from significant road works, Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal said on Wednesday during his meeting with residents living at an East Bank sea dam reserve.

Before next week, the Housing Minister said that officials will be engaging communities in Eccles, Perseverance, Providence, Peters Hall, and more, as work costing about $654 million will commence soon. The works to be executed include upgrading the existing roads to asphaltic concrete.

Minister Croal added: “For those within Herstelling, Farm, Covent Garden, Little Diamond… we will be spending about $1.3 billion to move a number of those roads to asphaltic concrete [and] for those within Great Diamond, we’ll be spending close to another $100 million.”

The Housing Minister said that they will go back to each community to announce and introduce contractors who will be doing the road works.

Minister Croal related that similarly, there are over 1178 community roads that are being transformed on the coastline from Regions Two to Six.

“…that is moving a number of those roads, in some cases dams, from where it is to concrete and asphaltic concrete,” he explained.

He noted that the contracts have already been awarded and that mobilisation advances have already started being paid.

“This is not an exercise that is waiting on the next upcoming budget. This is immediate. So, all those communities can expect interventions commencing,” he said.

And altogether, he believes that these investments would significantly contribute to development across the country.

“We will get to every road. You have a government that is moving very quickly. When people ask how is the revenue or royalty from the oil, how is being spent? That’s one of the ways. It is to ensure that we can fast-track your infrastructure development and social development,” Minister Croal underscored.