Schoonord-to-Crane Highway: Pres Ali orders contractors to be charged liquidated damages over delays

The 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 road.
During a recent inspection of the ongoing works, President Dr Irfaan Ali was informed that the works are about 90 to 95 per cent completed at the two sections – Schoonord, West Bank Demerara, and Crane, West Coast Demerara.
The Head of State cautioned the Project Engineer from the Housing and Water Ministry, Thakur Persaud, that delinquency would not be tolerated and that there would be no further extensions for the completion of the highway.
“You’re not going past April for this, y’all know that, right?” President Ali indicated on Saturday.

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, and road signage and markings. The project was awarded to eight contractors – 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 contractors were required to finish their respective projects by October 25, 2023. However, after massive delays, they were given an extension.
During Saturday’s site visit, the Guyanese Leader told the project engineer to ensure that liquidated damages are sought from the contractors over the extension given.

“That’s the contractor’s obligation [for extensions] …Y’all gotta make sure you charge for liquidated damages. There is no excuse. So, from day one as soon as [the contract] expires, I want liquidated damages,” the President declared.
The Head of State underscored the need for the timely completion of the project and encouraged contractors to make use of the favourable weather conditions. As such, he instructed that the contractors work 24 hours daily to ensure the timely completion of the project.
“You got to work 24 hours every day. In the bid, they were expected to work 24 hours… So, you gotta get them on the ground,” the Head of State directed.
This four-lane highway from Schoonord to Crane 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 all the way to Parika, it will open up new lands for housing and commercial developments in the region as well.
In Budget 2024, Government earmarked $9 billion to advance works on the Schoonord-to-Crane highway.
President Ali’s site visit on Saturday comes on the heels of him also recently inspecting ongoing works at two major road projects in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) – the Ogle-to-Eccles Four-lane Highway and the Diamond-to-Buzz Bee Dam expansion.
On Thursday, the Head of State visited the works on the bypass road that will link the East Coast Demerara corridor from Ogle to the East Bank Demerara corridor at Eccles. He expressed satisfaction at the progress of the construction, noting that these works were moving ahead of schedule.
“This is one of the two projects we have ahead of time, we hope to complete it by November,” the President said.
The four-lane road is being built from the intersection of the Ogle Airstrip Road and the Rupert Craig Highway on the East Coast of Demerara, heading towards Haags Bosch in Eccles, on the East Bank of Demerara.
In June of 2022, the Government inked a $21.2 billion (US$106.4 million) contract with an Indian company – Ashoka Buildcon Limited – to begin the first phase of the highly-anticipated road network.

Once completed, it is expected to expand interconnectivity between the East Coast and the East Bank of Demerara, significantly easing traffic congestion.
The 7.8-kilometre four-lane highway will be constructed with sidewalks and a median, while each lane will be built 3.6 metres wide.
The President was accompanied by the Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill; the Head of the Ministry’s Work Services Group (WSG), Ron Rahaman; another technical officer, and the contractors during his visit.
Meanwhile, on Friday morning, President Ali also inspected ongoing works on the Diamond-to-Buzz Bee Dam four-lane highway on the East Bank, where he urged contractors there to also take advantage of the current favourable weather conditions.
“We gotta work on ensuring that they make use of this weather… Work out a double-shift system, because no sense you have this weather and not make use of it.
“The weather has disadvantages, but we have to use the advantages,” the Head of State posited, as he urged the project engineer to meet with contractors and come up with a new plan that will see them on the ground more.
Contracts for this project were awarded in November 2023, to the tune of $11 billion. The highway, executed through the Housing and Water Ministry, will be an asphalted concrete structure.
Divided into 12 lots, the project sees the construction of more than 30 reinforced concrete bridges, 4.6 kilometres of reinforced concrete highway pavement, and two roundabouts for improved traffic management. (G8)