Road works in Regions Seven, Eight set to begin shortly

Hinterland Engineer, Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Geoffrey Walcott has confirmed that road works are moving apace in Bartica, Region Seven while the Ministry is now outlining designs for works in the other areas.

“We’re currently working on preparing the designs for works in Region Seven, we would be doing roads along the Puruni, Itabali and Pappishou area and also we’re going to be continuing works within Bartica which is the construction of roads and drains along the Bartica Potaro Four/Five Mile area,” Walcott explained.

Walcott highlighted that emphasis will be placed on Puruni/Pappishou which has been an area of contention for miners in the area.

“One of the key things on our agenda is the Puruni/Pappishou corridor; the road has become almost impassable in certain sections so because of the constant requests we (have) been getting from the mining community, it’s really high on our priority in terms of getting repair works done,” he said.

Additionally, the Hinterland Engineer pointed out that works will also be carried out on the Karrau to Boccau road which is a major corridor for persons engaged in logging. Walcott said, “We did some bridge repairs last year, but this year we’re going to be rehabilitating the entire corridor. We’re going to upgrade it to have a smooth traffic flow; repairing damaged sections, do back the base and add a layer of laterite as a surface course.”

Further, another contract has been awarded for works in Region Eight from 76 Miles to the Cassandra Crossing. He said once the Cassandra Bridge is completed the Ministry will rehabilitate the corridor between the Denham and Cassandra bridges. These works are also expected to commence shortly.

In 2016, the sum of $1.72B was provided for works in the hinterland, $609.323M was rolled over from 2016 while the 2016 projects totalled $1.105B. Budget 2017 makes provision for $2.302B for the continuation of road rehabilitation and construction in the hinterland.

(GINA)