Cabinet gives no-objection to $9.2B West Coast Demerara road project

Cabinet on Tuesday gave its no-objection to the $9.2B Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)-funded West Coast of Demerara Road project.

Head of the Presidential Secre-tariat, Dr Roger Luncheon made the announcement yesterday at his post-Cabinet press briefing, held at Office of the President.

The contract has been won by BK International in association with Surrey Aggregate Co. Ltd and is expected to begin soon.

On the 28th of October, BK International and General Earth Movers (GEM) of Trinidad were the only two companies that had tendered for the contract. GEM had tendered a bid at US$52M while BK had come in at US$44.7M. The Engineer’s estimate was stated as US$40.5M.

With Parliament now suspended by President Donald Ramotar, there will likely be increased concerns among opposition parties over these projects.

According to the CDB, the project, which runs from Vreed en Hoop to Hydronie, includes approximately 30.7 kilometres of highway rehabilitation works; bridge replacement and repair; drainage works; and road safety works that would install regulatory and warning signage, pavement markings and safety barriers along severe curves.

The project is intended to complement the construction of the new harbour bridge.

In addition, pedestrians and cyclists will be separated from motorized traffic through several communities and additional street lighting will be provided.

Earlier this month, a lone bid pegged at US$420,935 ($88.3 million) was made by Tagman Media Inc. for the provision of consultancy services for road safety public relations and communications. The project is scheduled to be executed over a five-year period.

The Cabinet Secretary also announced other contracts for which cabinet gave its no-objection. The companies, respective procuring entities and the award amounts are shown in the table below.
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