Ministry seeking environmental clearance for East Coast/East Bank road link

With the construction of the East Bank/East Coast road link scheduled  to commence soon, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) has applied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Environmental Authorisation to execute the project.

This announcement was made through a notice published by the EPA, which noted that the ministry has since applied for the authorisation.

The notice said that the main Green field alignment starts at the Rupert Craig Highway on the East Coast and ends at the connector of the extension of the Great Diamond road with the East Bank Public Road, which is approximately 15 km.

The main alignment passes through the Ogle Airstrip Road and runs for approximately 1.3 km to the Green Field, an area that currently comprises primarily sugar cane fields, with canals running across it.

The notice also stated that an aggregate length of approximately 9.62 km of connector/bypass roads is also expected to be constructed and the proposed locations for them are: Aubrey Barker Road, Haags Bosch Road, Mocha Arcadia Road and the Great Diamond Road.

As is required by the Environmental Protection Act, Cap. 20:05, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required before any decision to approve or reject a proposed project is made, since the development may have significant impacts on the environment.

As a result, members of the public are invited, within 28 days of the notice, to make written submissions to the agency, setting out questions and matters which they require to be answered or considered in the EIA.

MPI’s Technical Services Manager, Nigel Erskine, had told Stabroek News that the works on the road are expected to begin in the final quarter of next year, as the preliminary report which suggests that a four-lane highway is most feasible, was handed over in October by the Indian firm RITES Limited.

He had explained that they are expecting to have the draft design report in the first quarter of next year and a month after that, the final design with the drawings and tender documents should be ready. Thereafter, it will go into bidding, which will take another four to six months. By the last quarter of the year, the contractor should be mobilised and ready to start the works.

The report has estimated that the project will cost approximately US$104 million, though Erskine said the actual cost could be above or below that sum, once the project is finalised and they receive the draft design early next year.

However, Finance Minister Winston Jordan, during his 2019 budget presentation last month, had pegged the cost of the project at US$120 million.

“This by-pass, which was estimated at US$50 million a few years ago, for which funding was secured, is now projected to cost US$120 million. We will be approaching our bilateral partner to secure the additional funding to make this road a reality,” he said. India is the bilateral partner.

During the feasibility study period, which established the road alignment, Jordan said, “our engineering teams encountered a swampy area between Ogle and Diamond.”

To start preparatory works which will include draining, re-engineering and retrofitting the swamp area to facilitate the main construction works which are targeted for later in 2019, he said, $45 million has been allocated.

“We have already commenced discussions with interested development partners to secure funding to extend the road to Soesdyke/Timehri, to form a continuous link from Georgetown to Lethem and, via the Takutu Bridge, to the Trans-Continental Highway connecting South, Central and North America.”

After commencement, the project is slated to take approximately two years to complete. It is expected to result in a four-lane road along the main alignment and two roads along the secondary connectors.

“We would have finalised the alignment that we are using for the project and the main alignment is going to be from the Ogle Airport Road, starting from the East Coast [Highway]. There are basically three different parts along the main alignment; from the East Coast to the Railway Embankment, from the Railway Embankment to the GuySuCo Compound and then it goes into the cane field all the way to Diamond and will be about 15 kilometres of road,” he had explained.

Jordan had explained that the frustration of road users due to the lack of an adequate road network system to meet the tremendous growth was noted, and that the bypass road is a small step in the comprehensive expansion of the country’s road network system to reduce congestion and improve travel times on the roadways.

The new road link will serve as a corridor for communities on the East Bank, including Perseverance, Mocha, Providence, Eccles, and Peter’s Hall. It will also provide a bypass from the city, where most traffic flows daily, resulting in massive congestion and major delays.