India-based consultant RITES Limited, which is working on the much-anticipated East Coast/East Bank Demerara Bypass Road, will soon be submitting the Environmental Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval.
Public Infrastructure Ministry’s Technical Services Manager Nigel Erskine
This is according to Technical Services Manager attached to the Public Infrastructure Ministry, Nigel Erskine. He told Guyana Times that the ESIA proposal has been completed and the consultants would be submitting same in the coming days.
Erskine explained that once the report was submitted, the EPA would then kick start the approval process which would allow the public a 60-day window to examine the document.
“After that, based on the feedback they get from the public within those 60 days, the EPA would incorporate it and give approval…,” the engineer stated.
Back in 2016, Finance Minister Winston Jordan had signed a US$50 million loan with the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of India for the construction of the bypass road, which will provide an alternative route connecting the East Coast of Demerara at Ogle to the East Bank at Diamond.
The preliminary cost of the project was pegged at US$104 million. However, when he presented the 2019 budget last year, the Finance Minister revealed that the projected cost has spiked to some US$120 million and as such, Guyana will either have to approach its bilateral partner for more funds or just await revenues from the nascent oil and gas sector.
However, former Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Venekatachalam Mahalingam, had told this publication back in June that his Government could come up with the additional funds, but there would have to be a formal proposal from the Guyana Government.
“There had been informal discussions between the Government of Guyana and the Indian High Commission a couple of times. I have also flagged this issue to my government and I don’t think there will a problem to get additional finances from the Government of India, because we wouldn’t want to leave the road halfway,” he stated.
Mahalingam, who wrapped up a five-year tour in Guyana in June, explained that with the oil revenues that are expected to be streaming in after oil production commences early next year offshore Guyana, getting additionally money is more likely.
In the 2019 Mid-Year Report released by the Finance Minister earlier this month, it was noted that the bypass road project has been “lagging but progress has been made in discussions with the bilateral financing partner”.
Since the Indian Government is funding the project, it is required that contracts be awarded to companies from that country and as such, a 10-month design consultancy project was awarded to RITES Limited. The consultants have already submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) outlining the draft final design of the bypass road.
Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson told the National Assembly in May that the project was turning out to be of a much bigger scale than previously envisioned.
“What was previously envisaged when the loan was taken was a single road linking house lot developments, (but) what has been designed and is being reviewed at the moment is a dual carriageway, which is not just for linking house lots; it is actually an additional new entry way into the city. So it’s new bypass road (design), so, therefore, it is vastly improved than what was initially perceived,” Patterson had told the Committee of Supply as he successfully sought additional funds.
The Minister requested an additional $67.41 million to cover payments for consultancy services provided by the Indian firm as well as to carry out preparatory works on the route earmarked for the new bypass road.
He explained that along the area identified for the new road link, there was a ‘swampy’ section and part of the monies sought would be injected into clearing that area.
When the final design is approved by Government, the project will go to tender for a contractor, which will also be an Indian firm.
The Diamond-Ogle bypass project will see some 26 kilometres of road constructed, linking two of the country’s main thoroughfares. This new road link will also be connected to 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.
Erskine had previously explained to this newspaper that the road would be a four-lane main alignment with a 40-metre reserve in the middle. According to Erskine, Government is looking to use the reserve in the middle, sometime in the future, for a rapid rail that would run from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport at Timehri to Ogle.
This was confirmed by Finance Minister Winston Jordan back in March.
“[The bypass road] is being designed to cater for a rail system in the middle, so we don’t have to break up the road if want to go down a railway [system in the future] and with the kind of resources we expect from oil and so on, a high-speed railway will become a reality of getting from Georgetown or East Coast straight to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport [CJIA],” Jordan had stated.
Furthermore, plans are also afoot for major developmental projects along the new road including housing schemes and commercial outlets. Additionally, plans are in the works to extend the road link from Diamond all the way to the CJIA. This extension will come under a second phase of the project and the design consultancy process is supposed to be undertaken sometime this year.
In an effort to reduce traffic congestion for commuters on the East Bank of Demerara, which leads to the country’s main point of entry – the CJIA, the previous People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) regime initiated the bypass road project to link the East Coast to East Bank and subsequently sought funding from the Indian Government before leaving office in 2015.
