4 Indian companies prequalified for bypass road project

Four Indian companies have prequalified for the construction of the four-lane bypass road project that will link the East Coast of Demerara at Ogle to the East Bank of Demerara at Haags Bosch in Eccles.

This was revealed by Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, who told Guyana Times on Wednesday that the Guyana Government would soon float the tender documents so that the prequalified companies can start to bid for the project.
At the opening of the recently-expanded Hunter Street, on Tuesday, Edghill said Guyana was anticipating that a contractor would be selected by the last quarter of this year.
“We have received official notification that the companies for the building of the four-lane road from Ogle to Eccles have been prequalified by the Indian Government, because it is a financing from the Indian Exim Bank. And those companies have been prequalified, so they could now compete the final round of bidding. We expect a contract by the last quarter of this year for the building of the four-lane from Ogle all the way to Eccles,” the Public Works Minister noted.
While he did not provide a timeline as to when the tender would be launched, Edghill explained to this newspaper after this was done and the companies have submitted their bids, Guyana would have 21 days to evaluate the proposals and award the contract for the $10.4 billion project.
Back in 2015, the Indian Government had provided a US$50 million Line of Credit (LOC) for the road link that was initially slated for Ogle to Diamond, EBD. However, the project cost was driven up to over $208 million by the previous A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) regime and the project was at a standstill since 2019.
However, when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government took office last year it redesigned the project into two phases to fit the LOC – the first from Ogle to Haags Bosch road, which is about 50 per cent of the project, and the second, from Haags Bosch to Diamond – in order to fit the US$50 million LOC. Another aspect of the project will see the road going all the way to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in Timehri.
“That [bypass] road will continue with a four-lane from Eccles to Diamond, which is a different road from what you’re hearing right now [is] being built by the Ministry of Housing, and then we will continue from Diamond to Timehri with the intent of being able to link both airports – Ogle and Timehri will be linked with a four-lane highway opening up new lands in the back for housing and for other developments,” Minister Edghill said on Tuesday.

Terms and conditions
In a previous interview with Guyana Times, Indian High Commissioner, Dr KJ Srinivasa had explained that while an Indian company was required to do the construction as per the LOC terms and conditions, Guyanese could also expect to benefit from the project.
“As per the line of credit norms for India, whenever we give lines of credit, we insist on a 75 per cent Indian content. But for Guyana, we’ve made a special exemption, which will be 47 per cent content only from India. So, the remaining 53 per cent will be locally sourced in Guyana. I think this will fall perfectly in your local content policy and we also would appreciate that the local people can get jobs and local producers can be able to sell their… raw materials that are required for making the road,” Dr Srinivasa had related to this newspaper.
The bypass road will create a new highway in the backlands, thus allowing for an alternative route to the country’s two main thoroughfares.
This project will see a total of 26 kilometres of road constructed with links to connect key communities in Georgetown and along the East Bank of Demerara. These include Diamond, Mocha and Eccles – all on the East Bank – and Aubrey Barker Road in Georgetown. These connections will prove crucial in diverting traffic.
Meanwhile, Government has undertaken several new road projects along the EBD corridor to ease the heavy traffic congestion normally encountered there. These include an alternative road connecting Diamond and Eccles. The new road will run from Sixth Avenue, Diamond, to the Windsor Estate Road that leads on to the Eccles Landfill Site Road. This will form a connection through the new Herstelling Housing Scheme and other schemes that are being developed along the EBD corridor.
A second road is also being constructed between Eccles and Mandela Avenue, which will be completed later this year. Last month, the Housing Ministry signed several contracts to the tune of $2.3 billion for the commencement of work on this road.
These projects are all part of the Irfaan Ali-led Government’s urban development as well as its drive to transform Guyana’s infrastructure and link communities. (G8)