Six Region One roads for $762M all-weather upgrade

Six roads in Region One (BarimaWaini) are to be upgraded to allweather roads at a total cost of $762 million, Minister of State Joseph Harmon announced at Thursday’s post-Cabinet press briefing.

Harmon explained that at Tuesday Cabinet meeting, the green light was given to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure to sign the contracts with the contractors to begin the road works.

He explained that the roads would be constructed in the Port Kaituma and Mabaruma districts of the region.

The roads in Port Kaituma would be constructed at a total cost of $614 million, while the roads in Mabaruma will be constructed at a total cost of $148 million.

In Port Kaituma, the rehabilitation works would start from the Central Kaituma wharf road to old road junction, which would cost $51 million.

The contractor is S Lorrick Contracting Service. Additionally, works would be carried out on the Port Kaituma road to Matthews Ridge section, which will cost $334 million and from Central Kaituma catwalk road to Oronoque, Port Kaituma, at a cost of $16 million, for which International Imports and Supply Contracting Services is the contractor.

Rehabilitation of the Port Kaituma road from the airstrip to the Fitzburg Housing Scheme will also be undertaken at a cost of $213 million by KP Thomas & Sons Contracting Inc.

The roads to be rehabilitated in Mabaruma are from the Kumaka junction to the waterfront by the market road, which will cost $66 million, and from the main township road to the airstrip road, which will cost $82M. The contractor is Mohammed Ramzan Ali Khan Construction.

Construction of the roads should begin within a month after the contracts are signed, Harmon noted. He explained that visits were made to the beneficiary communities by Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, who listened to residents’ complaints about the poor state of the roads.

He added that residents would be able to know of the contract terms and in some cases witness the signing of the contracts since they would be expected to help to safeguard the roads from damage.

“We expect that once infrastructure is put into a community, the community should help in protecting it because they are the ones who are inconvenienced when they are damaged or improperly used,” he explained.