The National Assembly on Thursday, approved $67M to start preparatory works and consultancy services for the new design of the East Bank to East Coast Demerara road project, the Department of Public Information (DPI) has reported.
Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson explained that the sum caters for a new design for the road project. The new design will accommodate a double lane carriageway.
“The draft final design has been completed and is being reviewed by the ministry, and, of course, the project is of a bigger scale than was previously envisaged. What was previously envisaged was a single road linking house lots at the back of the housing development,” Minister Patterson was quoted by DPI as saying.
Additionally, the minister told the National Assembly that the sum also covers additional costs associated with the draining of a 30-acre swampy area along the proposed alignment.
“The surveyors would have walked the entire length all the way from the east coast all the way past Diamond and Grove and they encountered swampy sections… so, it’s to drain it, so by the time we start construction of the road, that area will be ready to have the road.”
The project is estimated to cost $21.5Billion (US$104M) through a Government of Guyana and Government of India agreement.
The funding is a supplementary provision to the 2019 budget for which $2.2 Billion was already allocated in the budget.
Once the project is completed, it will significantly reduce the heavy vehicular traffic along the EBD and ECD corridors.
