Over $1.6B awarded for construction of 87 roads in Black Bush Polder

Contracts totalling $1.6 billion have been awarded to 30 small contractors to construct some 87 community roads within Lesbeholden and Mibicuri, polders of the Black Bush Polder Scheme in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
According to Public Works Minister Juan Edghill during a meeting with residents of Lesbeholden North and South on Wednesday, 25 roads will be constructed in Lesbeholden North to the tune of $396 million, while 18 roads will be constructed in Lesbeholden South to the tune of $263 million.
Mibicuri North will have 19 roads constructed to the tune of $284 million, while Mibicuri South will have 25 roads constructed to the tune of $350 million. Further, 19 roads within Mibicuri South are being rehabilitated and upgraded.
According to Edghill, this aggressive programme being undertaken by Government is expected to bring relief to residents who have been dealing with risks and challenges to be confronted when traversing mud dams and dilapidated structures.
“Both contractors and residents, we want to say to you, ‘Let’s do this together. Let us ensure that the community is taken care of, and we want all these projects to be finished by December 15’. For Christmas, everybody in Lesbeholden will be smiling, the roads must be fixed,” he declared.
“If your entrance is interrupted, there are provisions in the contract for the restorations,” Edghill shared.

Government’s investment in the Black Bush Polder (BBP) area is part of a broader national infrastructure development plan aimed at improving connectivity and fostering economic growth in rural communities.
In reaffirming Government’s commitment to delivering quality infrastructural projects that enhance the wellbeing of residents across the country, Edghill has said, “I don’t think (that) in the history of road construction and development, this has ever happened in a community. In all of Black Bush Polder, on this go-round, we are doing 108 projects, and somebody might say, ‘I didn’t hear this street call’. The streets that are being built here are streets being built with rigid pavement concrete. Some gaps exist because we can’t have the whole Black Bush Polder locked down, we have to leave space for people to move while construction is still taking place. So, what is not done in this phrase will be done in the next phase,” he explained.
Since assuming office in August 2020, the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Administration has expended billions on the construction of 4000 community roads in Region Six, of which some 475 structures were constructed in Black Bush Polder.