the road at Vreed-en-Hoop
Mere months after its official completion, a hole has developed on the Vreed-en-Hoop access road, West Coast Demerara, attracting urgent attention by contractors on Wednesday morning.
When Guyana Times International visited the area, crew members from Jamaican Company ‘Surrey, Paving and Aggregate Company Limited’, who were responsible for the construction of the road had begun drilling holes to surround the sunken section of road, as they explained that they were conducting an examination to determine the reason for the sunken road.
When contacted, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson said he was unaware of what was going on in the area.
Calls made to the Head of the Works Services Group went unanswered.
This newspaper understands that days before the hole formed, the patch was uneven and rough causing motorists to avoid using that section of the roadway.
The G$9.7 billion project was completed by the Jamaican company along with BK International earlier this year after several hiccups and setbacks.
Back in July when the road was commissioned by the subject Minister, it was noted that the project was funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
Some 30.7 kilometers of the West Coast roadway was rehabilitated to include bridges and culverts, new ‘shared-use’ lanes for cyclists and pedestrians at key junctions, the installation of high visibility traffic signs and road markers, the installation of pedestrian footpath bridges, the construction of concrete drains at critical locations and the construction of parking lanes along identified sections of the road, the Department of Public Information reported.
The road improvement project was officially launched on March 20, 2014, at the Pegasus Hotel, and was scheduled to be executed over a period of five years.
The expansion entailed the improvement of about 30.7 kilometres of the West Coast Demerara Road from Vreed-en-Hoop to Hydronie, East Bank Essequibo just about one mile East of Parika.
