Regulation signs are among several features which will be added to the Linden–Lethem road as the administration plans to improve the stretch of road linking Guyana and Brazil.
This was disclosed at a press conference hosted on Thursday by Transport and Hydraulics Minister Robeson Benn at his Wights Lane, Kingston office, where the Ministry highlighted projects completed in 2009 and its plans for this year. Benn stated that the ministry has been successful in its work programmes last year, with some 95% of works completed.
According to Rickford Lowe of the Work Services Group within the Public Works Ministry, the Ministry is working in collaboration with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to maintain the stretch of road between Linden and Lethem linking Guyana and Brazil. Lowe singled out the Linden–Lethem road project as one of the high points of the unit’s programme noting that work is currently on-going on the installation of a fixed vehicular weight control scale close to the Takutu Bridge. He stated that regulation signs will be placed along the Linden-Lethem road between Annai and Linden noting that a contract was expected to be inked with a consultant to complete a 1 year feasibility study on the road project on Thursday.
The Works Ministry embarked on projects to rehabilitate and repair some 267 roads countrywide last year, 207 more than it had initially planned. Under the Miscellaneous Roads programme, which caters for the rehabilitation of roads in Regions 2,3,4,5 and 6, some $2.8B has been expended on the 193 miles of roads countrywide.
The Ministry is also working in collaboration with the GGMC to undertake works on roads at interior locations. Among the roads attended to under this partnership are the Matthews Ridge/Baramita Road, the work zone now located some 7 miles from the Baramita airstrip. It was also disclosed that work on the road linking Ituni and Kwakwani is expected to be completed this year. Some 3 miles of work is left to be completed. Residents in the area, including mini-bus operators had been complaining about the impassable state of the road there.
Harbour bridge
General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Company (DHBC) Rawlston Adams told the briefing that there had been an increase of some 20% of revenues generated by the DHBC in 2009, representing a $357M improvement in revenues compared to the previous year. He said among the works done to the bridge in 2009 was the dredging of the area in the vicinity of the bridge and he noted that this was a significant achievement for the DHBC since the bridge is now floating from end to end as a result of dredging works, the last time this occurred was some 4 years ago. In addition some 29 pontoons were installed at the bridge, Adams noting that the pontoons would be rehabilitated every 5 years after the first 3 years of their installation.
Adams stated that the DHBC has seen a 16% increase in vehicular traffic traversing the bridge in 2009, an average figure of 6,437 vehicles per day. He posited that this increase in traffic may be as a result of a hike in the number of vehicles traversing the road network as well as an increase in infrastructural development in the Region Three area.
This year, Adams noted, the DHBC plans to carry out repair works to the ramp on the retractor span while the company may be revising its schedule in terms of retraction times as there has been an increase in river traffic.
