A JOINT team of officials from the Ministries of Public Works and Communications and Finance inspected rehabilitation works on several roadways in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) last Monday. The team looked at completed, as well on-going road projects in the county of Berbice.

The rehabilitation of the roadways is being executed under the miscellaneous road programme of the Ministry of Public Works and Communications.

The purpose of the visit was to have an on-the-spot assessment of the progress of the work and to identify deficient areas, so that appropriate remedial measures could be expeditiously implemented.

Among the roadways inspected were Palm Street at Corriverton, Kowlessar Street at Bush Lot and streets in the villages of Kildonan, Tain, Albion and New Amsterdam.

However, when Palm Street was visited, there was no sign that work had begun and the contractor was asked the reason for this state of affairs. The contractor reportedly replied that he has a heavy workload. He promised to begin work by next week.

Palm Street is the main access roadway to the Corriverton Primary School.

Mr. Kenneth Jordan, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works and Communications told the ‘Chronicle’ that officials from his Ministry will re-visit the street shortly to observe what progress is being made.
The roadways in New Amsterdam are among those that were requested for repairs by taxi drivers earlier this year, when they met with Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Anthony Xavier. The Minister had assured them that his Ministry will carry out repairs in accordance with the financial resources available.

According to Mr. Jordan, under the miscellaneous roads programme, 12 roadways were identified in Region Six for rehabilitation. At present, seven of those roads have been completed representing about 60 per cent of the scheduled work, while others are in progress. It is anticipated that by the end of the year, 85 per cent of the work will be completed. The remaining 15 per cent will be done early in the new year. The total cost of rehabilitating the roads is $70M.

Mr. Jordan told the ‘Chronicle’ that the work was delayed because of the late budget presentation this year. While he is generally satisfied about the ongoing work, Jordan is of the view that more frequent monitoring of projects needs to be done by the Roads Division.

Besides Jordan, the inspection team comprised Chief Roads Officer Donald Walcott; Roads Engineer Ms. Marilyn Baird; Secretary to the Treasury Nirmal Rekha; Head of the State Planning Secretariat Mr. Clyde Roopchand; Region Six Chairman Mr. Rohit Persaud and other regional officials.

The team also visited the Guyana/Suriname Ferry Stelling at Moleson Creek to inspect the construction of a house for staff attached to the stelling.

Jordan estimated that the $5.9M building should be completed within another week. He also expressed satisfaction with the quality of work, and pointed out that two other houses were completed last year for the accommodation of Customs and Immigration staff. He said that it is much more convenient for the staff to be housed within the compound of the stelling.