following signing of contacts for 222 roads
IN keeping with promises made by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, contracts were signed on Monday for 222 road projects valued at $7.8 billion.
Addressing residents at Lusignan during the signing ceremony, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar said that the rollout of the construction projects is unprecedented, and pledged that: “Every village will see works happening,” across the East Coast Demerara (ECD) corridor through a phased, multi-year approach.
While stressing the need for the contractors to utilise construction materials that pass specification requirements, Minister Indar called for adherence to project timelines in a bid to minimise inconvenience.
The new tranche of roadworks will raise the PPP/C Government’s road construction programme to approximately 4,000 roads since 2020.
Attorney-General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, S.C., also attended the ceremony, and reminded residents that the projects were identified, based on the needs and population size of the communities.
He urged residents to avoid persons who seek to distort the advancements being achieved by the PPP/C Government.
“You have to be careful of those whose only intent is to racially divide our people, and spread hatred and division. Those people have no place in a modern society,” Nandlall underscored.
The PPP/C having only been in government for three years, he said that even with this enormous investment, many huger infrastructural projects are planned.
“Our objective is to fix every single road at the end of the journey,” Nandlall firmly said.
The Guyana Chronicle spoke to several contractors to get a first-hand experience of the excitement that was dwelling in the atmosphere.
Nowrang Panchu, a small contractor with Panchu Dynamic Contracting Service, was overjoyed to receive his contract.
Panchu said that he has witnessed and felt Guyana’s significant development since the PPP/C Government was elected to office in 2020.
“Well, we got thank the government for the initiative and for [including] the small contractors,” he told this publication.
“I feel very happy, because [there] is a lot development from since 2020. You see [it] in every community, you see a lot of infrastructure work from roads to bridges,” Panchu said.
Another small contractor, Krisandat Balkaran, said: “I think this is excellent work done by the government, and also it eases the burden of the villagers. People can get their vehicle in and out of their community very fast.”
Balkaran commended the administration for the initiatives being taken, and mentioned that he had been given other contracts prior to this one.
The East Coast Demerara corridor’s current growth, according to Philip Lewis, of 360 Construction, is “just the tip of the iceberg”.
He said that this initiative holds contractors accountable, in addition to empowering the communities.
Joan Deo, of Deo’s Imperial Construction Inc., on the other hand, commended the government for supporting and pushing for contracts to be awarded to small contractors and not just big businesses.
She said: “I think it’s a very good initiative; they get to pull in a lot of the other contractors, as opposed to the ones that usually get work all the time. So I think it’s a very good and improved initiative from the government.”
