Govt fielding applications for high-rise buildings in Ogle

…as Pres Ali assures communities of Govt support

Speaking of the need to balance the old with the new when it comes to community development, President Dr Irfaan Ali has revealed that the Government is fielding a number of applications from persons looking to construct high-rise buildings in Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD), where a bypass road is being developed to Eccles and beyond.

On Tuesday, President Ali, along with constituency candidates visited a number of communities to listen to concerns of residents. Among the communities he visited was Lamaha Park, where he met residents who raised the issue of a gated community and called for improvements.
Residents were assured that Central Government would continue to engage them at the grassroots level, to find out and help meet their needs. And wherever the Government can assist, the President assured them of his Administration’s support. He also drew parallels between Guyana and Trinidad, where there were push and pull factors in community development.
“One of the things that we have to do and this is how development occurs, there is always a push-and-pull factor. If you look at Port-of-Spain’s development. There was heavy push for the commercialisation and building a financial sector inside of Port of Spain. And then a lot of communities were developed outside of Port of Spain. Gated communities. And we’re seeing a lot of that happening, around Ogle and so on.
“But there are old, pristine communities that remain in Port-of-Spain. So, some of those old communities are not going to change their nature. So, we have to make it that pristine. And to find the balance to ensure it survives in the push and pull factor occurring around. That is what we have to do,” President Ali said.
The President noted that in Ogle, where work continues on the bypass road to Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD), they are fielding a number of applications for tall buildings.
“It’s just like all the applications we’re having now, for tall buildings in the Ogle area, outside of the Ogle area. If we don’t balance it, then you limit what can occur at Ogle, the Ogle airport. So, it’s really about finding the balance,” the President added.

President Ali made it clear that they would go ahead with development in the community, including any ongoing and pending road works. And he noted that whatever decisions the residents come up with at the next meeting slated for Friday, the Government will move ahead with action within a month.
“On Friday we will have that meeting and I hope you can come up with some solutions. But whatever we decide on Friday, I can tell you we’re going to go ahead with that. Whatever we decide in terms of drainage, security, the playground, on Friday, I can tell you that within one month we will move into action,” President Ali said.
The much-anticipated bypass road project will run 7.8 kilometres through the swampy backlands to create a four-lane highway connecting the East Coast with the East Bank. The contractor carrying out this US$106 million project is Ashoka Buildcon, which is aiming for an October 2024 deadline.
The US$106.4 million contract was signed last year with the Indian company to construct the four-lane road. It was announced in January 2022 that Ashoka Buildcon Limited won the contract to construct the road, ahead of two other Indian companies. Ashoka has previously built a number of bridges and roads in different jurisdictions.
According to the company’s website, it even built a bridge in 38 days, namely the Mandve Bridge near Pandharpur, India. According to the company, the bridge was supposed to be built in 12 months.
In February 2021, the Government of India had approved the new scope of works for the redesigned bypass road project that would link the ECD at Ogle to Haags Bosch near Eccles, EBD. This new road link will also be connected to key communities in Georgetown and along the East Bank of Demerara.
RITES Limited, an engineering consultancy company based in India, had undertaken a 10-month design consultancy, which produced a Detailed Project Report (DPR) outlining the draft final design of the bypass road. It is this report which recommended a four-lane highway as most feasible. (G3)