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design and feasibility study along with all geotechnical tests and studies needed to move ahead with the construction of the Corentyne River Bridge. The studies were valued at US$2 million.

Although Guyana was a signatory to the project, it was mainly funded by the Government of Suriname. The bridge will feature 119 spans, a width of 12.40m and carriageway of 10.05m, including lanes and shoulders.

It will allow for two lanes in regular conditions and three lanes in emergency or controlled conditions; it will carry an important collision protection mechanism.

Meanwhile, the new four-lane, concrete bridge slated to be constructed across the Demerara River at Wismar, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara- Berbice) will commence soon, Minister Edghill said.

“The new four lane bridge at Wismar will begin work [soon]; monies have been provided, the contractor was identified and we are ready to go.

“[This is] not a campaign promise but we’ve gone beyond for works to commence,” the Minister said.

The estimated cost for the bridge is about US$35 million; the government is engaging the Chinese joint venture – China Railway Construction Corporation Limited.

That company is constructing the new US$260 million crossing over the Demerara River to bridge Regions Three and Four.

Cemetery Road and Conversation Tree in Georgetown, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill Friday said contractors have been told they have been given until the end of January next year to complete the works.

The Minister reminded that upgrading of the existing two-lane Cemetery Road to four lanes has surpassed the initial deadline.

“Works should have been completed in 2023; the project is still behind time which is a concern for us.

“The contractor has received a deadline of January 2024 to complete the project,” Minister Edghill said.

He added that if January ends and the project is not completed the contractor will be replaced. Avinash Constructing and Scrap Metal Inc. was awarded the $475M contract in 2022.

Meanwhile, Kallco Guyana Inc., which was partially contracted for the Conversation Tree to Dennis Street project, valued $1.8 billion, was singled out for its slothfulness.

The Minister said the same new deadline was given to Kallco and S. Jagmohan Construction and General Supplies, the other contractor.

“Lot One is progressing satisfactory and Lot Two is a concern, and the contractor received a revised deadline.

“These are two important affairs that we cannot continue to allow to languish,” the Minister said.

Kallco Guyana Inc. was flagged for poor performance in July this year after the Minister inspected the project. The company told the Ministry that additional resources from Trinidad had to be acquired.

According to Edghill, the company hasn’t fastened its pace.

The fire occurred around 02:00hrs on December 25 at Zella’s Central Amelia’s Ward, Linden living quarters.

In a press release, the GFS had said that upon arrival at the scene, firefighters managed to contain the blaze to the bottom floor of the building.

The bodies of the girls, 8 and 16, and their aunt was discovered in the bathroom area of the house.

Sixteen-year-old Angelique and eight-year-old Ronika had accompanied their mother, Onika Lawrence to the mining town to spend time with their relatives for the Christmas holiday.

Autopsies later revealed that the girls and their aunt died as a result of smoke inhalation.

The children’s mother, Onika Lawrence, had told the News Room that Zella collected the children last Saturday and took them to her place so they could enjoy the holidays.

Around 02:00hrs Christmas morning, her other sister received a call informing her of the fire at Zella’s place.

According to Onika, they decided to venture to the Zella’s place.

Upon arrival, she said she noticed the fire tender and police vehicle at the scene.

Up to that point, Onika told the News Room that she had hope that they were in the building and was waiting to be rescued.

Former Jamaica Tallawahs CEO, Jeff Miller

Former Tallawahs CEO, Jeff Miller, shed more light on this lack of support from the Government.

“Over the years, we have failed to get any backing or support from the Jamaican Government. We have submitted proposals over the years requesting Government support and we have failed to reach some kind of agreement to say that the Government is supporting the franchise,” Miller told SportsMax.tv in an interview on Wednesday.

“The business plan of CPL entails that the Governments play a major role in financial support of the franchises and that’s what the other franchises are receiving from their respective countries and Jamaica has failed to participate in those environs,” he added.

In fact, Jamaica, one of the regions proudest cricketing nations, has not hosted a CPL game since September 2019 when the Tallawahs lost by 20 runs to the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots.

“Unfortunately, the franchise cannot be sustained in Jamaica. We cannot have a franchise where we don’t have home games,” Miller said.

“When you don’t have home games, you’re losing ticket sales, you’re losing merchandising, you’re losing concession, you’re losing sponsors. So, it’s not only the government support, you’re losing others as well because what business would want to support a franchise and they can’t get any benefits from the franchise playing within the country? For what we see, there were no games scheduled for 2024 either! It’s unsustainable,” Miller added.

This was due to the reluctance of the Government to pay the CPL hosting fee for the last four years. When asked why this was, Miller said he wasn’t privy to those discussions but always had promises from Jamaica’s Minister of Sport, the hon. Olivia “Babsy” Grange regarding financial support.

“I’m not at privilege to those conversations. Those conversations would’ve been between them and CPL. I’m not sure what transpired but from the Tallawahs standpoint, we know that the minister was very graceful in her discussions with us but when it came to funding that’s when things would go off track. We were promised on numerous occasions that there would be something in the budget, nothing substantial but even a small gesture, we were not able to receive those funds,” he said.

Persaud and Miller will lead the new Antigua-based franchise which will be part of next year’s competition, replacing the Tallawahs in the six-team Twenty20 tournament. The CPL is in search of new owners for the Jamaica-based franchise.

Miller said they have gotten commitments from the Antiguan Government and are looking forward to a fruitful partnership in the future.

“We have commitments from the Antiguan Government. We can’t disclose any information, per se, but it’s substantially more than what we were getting from Jamaica,” he said.

“We can’t tell the players; Jamaica’s not supporting us so we can’t pay your salary. All of those things have to be taken care of so we’re looking forward to greener pastures and Antigua seems to be in a better position to support and seems to want to have a CPL team back in Antigua. We think it’s a good fit for the franchise,” Miller added.

Announcements related to the branding of the new Antigua franchise will come next month, according to Miller,

“I’m engaging the fans in Antigua to participate in the naming of the franchise. That deadline should be around January 20th or so. Then, we will announce the name as well as the colors and logo,” he said. (Sportsmax)