Mismanagement under Coalition stalled major road projects – Edghill

…as $34.4B budget approved for Public Works Ministry

The $34.4 billion allocation to the Public Works Ministry was approved on Wednesday but not without scrutiny from both Government and Opposition members.

During the consideration of the budget estimates, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill pointed out that the APNU/AFC administration “badly mismanaged” several transformational projects, including those for major road networks, thus causing them to be stalled for, in most cases, its entire term in office.
Edghill was at the time responding to queries on several infrastructural projects when he noted that initiatives like the East Coast Road Expansion Project started under the previous People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration and now that the party has returned to office five years later, it is yet to be fully completed. Despite this fact, however, the Coalition had gone ahead and commissioned the road before leaving office.

Another such incomplete project, the Public Works Minister highlighted is the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded US$66 million Sheriff Street/Mandela Road upgrade, which too started under the last PPP/C government and is still incomplete. At the time, the Committee of Supply was considering a $553 million allocation to the project.
“When we took office, there was no work that was being done on this road, and it was not only because of COVID; that was only one of the reasons. Other reason was because of noncompliance with environmental standards, the IDB had to shut disbursements down on this project. It was badly mismanaged,” he contended.
According to the minister, the PPP/C Government has since engaged stakeholders and works have recommenced.
“You can see work is back [on] there… You can see the two bridges being completed; there are two subcontractors engaged in doing those bridges and my understanding is that before the end of this year, you will see paving of the road… Because of the deteriorating state of the road, we remedial works had to actually be done before you can even go to asphalting… So, the contractor is back on the job,” he disclosed.
Previously, the contractor – Chinese company, Sinohydro Corporation Limited – had claimed that its experts who had travelled home for the Christmas holiday have been stuck there due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions that ensued. However, Edghill posited that the contractor has been assured that special chartered flights will be approved by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) for those personnel to return so as to complete the project.
Another transformation initiative the Public Works Minister said that saw no progress under the APNU/AFC is the East Bank/East Coast Bypass Road project that is being funded by the Indian-government with a US$50 million Line of Credit that was secured by former PPP/C President Donald Ramotar.
In response to queries from his predecessor, former Public Infrastructure Minister and Opposition Member of Parliament, David Patterson, regarding a $51 million allocation to the road link and the revised scope of the project, Minister Edghill explained that the monies being sought is for studies on an alternative route from Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara to Eccles, instead of Diamond, on the East Bank of Demerara.
“This is a reworked project… When we came into government, we met a situation where a road that was originally for US$50 million turned out to be US$208 million. So we sat with the Indian government and discussed this because nothing was moving on it and we have established Phase One of a four-lane road that will begin at Ogle and come out all the way to Haags Bosch at Eccles in this first phase and it will be able to be funded by this US$50 million that was sitting there for five years,” the Minister explained.
It was previously disclosed that the initial design done under the APNU/AFC, which was from Ogle to Diamond and included at least five connectors to communities along the East Bank corridor and in Georgetown, drove the project cost up.
However, the Public Works Minister assured that an extension from Eccles to Diamond to allow for an alternative road to that scheme as well as the connectors to the various communities will be done in other phases of the project. Those will also include a further extension to Timehri, where the country’s main port of entry – the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) – is located.
“Even if it is not funded from the Indian loan, GOG (Government of Guyana) will ensure that those connector roads are established; that is the commitment we have. We won’t build a bypass road and don’t put in the connectors because the people in those communities will not be able to benefit from it. Our intent is to produce more lanes for the movement of people… We believe in facilitating development as against obstructing it and one of the ways by facilitating development is by consulting people, engaging people and making them aware of what is happening…So we will be dealing with those issues in a very transparent manner for the benefit of all Guyanese,” Edghill stated.
Nevertheless, after nearly three hours of scrutiny on the monies for the Public Works Ministry, the National Assembly approved the $34.4 billion budgetary allocation on Wednesday. (G8)