Schoonord-to-Crane Highway: 4 contractors charged liquidated damages over delays

– highway 90% complete

Four of the eleven contractors working on the $11.8 billion four-lane highway project from Schoonord-to -Crane in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) are expected to pay liquidated damages over the delayed completion of the roadway.

The highway in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) is about 90 per cent completed.
This was revealed by Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal, who told the Guyana Times that the government has a no-tolerance policy on delayed projects.
He said that in addition to liquidated damages a new deadline has been instituted and there would be no further extensions for the completion of the highway.
“There are 11 contractors who are working there. Some have completed their part, and there are a few that are behind time. All have been given a final deadline of July 31st for completion, and that is what we are holding these contractors to. That is why I also noticed some of them are doubling up and putting in night jobs to get the work done”.
“We have applied liquidated damages, and that’s one of the mechanisms we have put in place. Here we are talking about a $15.1 billion project for these four lanes, so that’s a different context. But we are applying liquidated damages across the board, and so the contractors are already feeling the squeeze, and they know the importance,” Croal told the Guyana Times.
In September 2022, some $11.8 billion in contracts were signed for the construction of the Schoonord-to-Crane four-lane highway – a project that is part of a much larger initiative to establish a secondary road link to Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE).
The works included two roundabouts, 11 reinforced concrete box culverts, 36 pre-stressed bridges, an emergency lane, 4.1 kilometres of dual-carriageway road, and road signage and markings.

The contractors involved in the project are VR Construction Inc., Avinash Contracting & Scrap Metal Inc., L’Heureuse Construction and Services Inc., GuyAmerica Construction Inc., AJM Enterprise, Vals Construction, Puran Bros Disposal Inc., and JS Guyana Inc.
All the contractors were required to finish their respective projects by October 25, 2023. However, after massive delays, they were given an extension.
Reiterating the importance of the Schoonord-to-Crane four-lane highway, Croal noted that this pertinent piece of infrastructure is a major component of the continuous infrastructural transformation that is taking place across the country.
He added that these infrastructural developments will greatly improve Guyana’s transportation system, and boost economic development while creating jobs.
“This 4-lane will bring tremendous benefit to not only just persons who are living in region 3, but anyone who is traversing to and from the West Coast of Demerara… So, the amount of time that one will save, and the economic benefit from this road, will certainly help in terms of reducing the time it takes to traverse, reducing the transportation and logistics costs. And for anybody who will be living on the west coast of Demerara, certainly to get home very quickly. You know the bridge is progressing well, and so once the boat is complete, then you’ll get home very quickly.”
The highway will be a modern road with features that will allow for easy and free flow of traffic at both ends.
This corridor is one of the major transformative projects being undertaken in Region Three and will be connected, at Schoonord, to the new bridge across the Demerara River that is also currently under construction. With the highway to be eventually extended to Parika, it will open up new lands for housing and commercial developments in the region as well.
In Budget 2024, the Government earmarked $9 billion to advance works on the Schoonord-to-Crane highway.
(Trichell Sobers)