President Ali urges contractor to complete Ogle to Eccles highway on time
Works are ongoing to transform the backlands into the highway (Photo: Office of the President/ April 11, 2023)
The Indian-based Ashoka Construction Company won the bid for this phase of the Ogle to Eccles four-lane highway after it reportedly offered a five per cent discount within its bid.
Already, contractor with the Ministry of Public Works, Nigel Erskine said that about 6.5 kilometres of the 7.8 kilometres of the road’s main alignment have been completed. That entire alignment will be converted to an asphaltic concrete roadway.
Erskine, who joined President Ali for the visit, also said the entire embankment should be cleared and sand-filled by the end of April. The overall project should be completed by October 2024.
“It is a significant development and we are going to be pushing the contractor to have this project delivered on time and of course, within the cost budget,” Erskine said.
President Dr. Irfaan Ali inspected construction works at the forthcoming Ogle to Eccles roadway (Photo: Office of the President/ April 11, 2023)When the US$106.4 million contract for the project was inked last June, it was reported that lands aback Ogle will be made available for development when the road is completed. Currently, those lands are largely unoccupied.
This contract, which signalled the official commencement of the project, came about eight years after Guyana received a funding commitment from India.
Then, under former President Donald Ramotar, a US$50 million loan commitment from the Indian Exim Bank was given to fund the road project. After the change of government in 2015, however, the project was stalled.
Guyana last year received the US$50 million as a line of credit from India and will be using those funds to advance the project.
Aside from the Ogle to Eccles roadway, the East Coast Railway embankment from Sheriff Street to Mahaica, and the roadway from Coversation Tree to Dennis Street, Sophia are being expanded into four-lane highways.
These expansions are expected to ease the growing traffic congestion woes on the East Coast.
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