DURING a recent visit to the East Bank of Demerara, Bishop Juan Edghill, the Minister of Public Works, made an unexpected stop at the Providence Access Road, also referred to as “Red Road,” to check the recently completed works and the state of the drains in the commercial area.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Minister Edghill stated the recent incident in which the weight of an estimated pile of 30,000 tonnes of material caused severe damage to the entrance of the road, has fast-tracked plans to widen the thoroughfare and build concrete drains.

“Considering that this area is the hub for several businesses and one of the main access roads to the Providence scheme, we are aware of the vehicular traffic as well as the people that are traversing the roads on a daily basis. The initial plan for us was to widen Red Road before the end of this year. However, since this incident has occurred, we will be starting the widening even sooner. We will also be concreting the drains as well so that our business owners and the public will not have to be affected by stagnant water. Let me also take this opportunity to ask the vendors that are selling in front of the road and along the parapet of the road to desist from doing so. We will be serving notices for all those who are vending along the roads, they know the right thing, we have been preaching it all along,” Minister Edghill related.

While Minister Edghill is pleased with some of the contractors and the work that is being done on their projects, he also stated that the government will be holding people accountable for not delivering on the deadline for projects and for substandard work, especially when it comes to infrastructure.

According to him, “as a government, we are creating employment for our people; we are ensuring that everyone, regardless of their race or religion, gets work, but I want to make it clear that we will not be held responsible for any contractor negligence or deficient performance. There is no excuse as to why they cannot finish the job. We are providing them with materials, and the weather is quite fitting for working.”
He further stated that some of the contractors who are behind schedule are producing frivolous excuses as to why the projects are not completed.

“Some of the contractors are claiming that they are not finished with the projects because the utility poles or pipes are in the way. Well, I took it upon myself and contacted the relevant persons to have all of that dealt with, and now I am waiting to hear what they will say. I want to make something very clear: we are not short of contractors nor labourers in this country, so for those who want to play the fool, let them; they are replaceable. Gone are those days when we had to depend on one or two contractors to do the jobs.”

The minister also said that while everyone is happy for development in their community and the country, the contractors need to understand that people’s lives are also being disrupted as a result of this.

“All of us are happy when we see that our communities and our country is being developed, whether with roads or drains. However, while people understand that inconvenience is necessary, we cannot prolong the work because a contractor decided that he does not want to work today. Development doesn’t happen like that. Our people are our priority, and as a government, we refuse to have any excuses or lackadaisical attitudes from contractors. We are progressing, and we need people who understand that,” the minister added.