—Additional 30 roads to be awarded
Thousands of residents across La Parfaite Harmonie, Onderneeming, Westminster, Recht door Zee, and Lust-en-Rust in Region Three have been assured that all roads within their communities will be completed by December.
Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill made the announcement during an inspection of ongoing roadworks in the communities.
“By December 31 you will see massive transformation in this area,” Minister Edghill told residents.
Currently, a total of 68 internal roads, covering approximately 19 kilometres, are under construction across various communities.
The roads are being upgraded to concrete by small contractors from within the respective areas.
In addition, the Ministry’s Special Projects Unit (SPU) is upgrading 28 kilometres of main access roads to asphaltic concrete.
Minister Edghill highlighted the cost-saving benefits of the SPU’s involvement, noting that it would significantly reduce resident’s wait time.
Moreover, since construction began in mid-September, progress has been made from between 10 and 55 per cent to completion.
Further, the minister announced plans to award contracts for an additional 30 roads once the concrete roads have been fully cured, a process that typically takes 21 days.
“When we are finished…every road in this community would have been completed. There will not be one outstanding road,” Minister Edghill said.
Outlining the scope of the work, the Head Engineer of the SPU, Collin Gittens, stated that the road rehabilitation includes scarification, finishing with asphaltic concrete and clearing the shoulders of the road.
Two teams are working continuously to meet the December deadline. One team is focused on road preparation while the other is focusing on asphalt application.
Given the high occupancy rates in the area, Gittens noted that major roads will be worked on at night and over weekends to minimise disruption to residents