A major road rehabilitation will begin in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) soon following the signing in Kingstown, on Tuesday, of two major contracts by the Ministry of Transport and Works.
Permanent Secretary that ministry, Hudson Need, signed the contracts on behalf of the government of SVG for the construction of the national agricultural and feeder roads project and the feasibility studies and preliminary designs for the rehabilitation of the north Windward Coast Road project.
Osama M. Refaei signed on behalf of Kuwait Dynamics Ltd, the contractors.
The consultancy for the feasibility project will be done by NARCO DIWI — a Kuwaiti firm and DIWI a British Caribbean firm in a joint venture arrangement as consultants on the project.
The firm was represented by Nabeel Abdul Raheem.
Minister of Transport and Works, Senator Julian Francis said both projects were Kuwaiti funded.
He said the Kuwait Fund gave SVG a loan of four million dinars, about EC$32 million, for the development of feeder roads and secondary roads in SVG.
Francis said the original loan was signed on the Oct. 6, 2016 and by April 28, 2017 SVG had entered into a contract with NARCO DIWI.
He said the signing of the contracts indicate the beginning of the projects.
The consultants’ job, Francis explained, is to continue construction supervision. Funds are being paid directly from the source to the contractors and funds utilised locally will be for operation of Project Implementation Management Unit (PIMU) and some other local expenses.
The project will cover 10 roads: Belair Village Road, Brighton Salt Pond Road, Calder main road, Carriere Village road, Colonaire Estate road, Enhams road, Greggs/Lowmans road, Montreal Gardens road, Ottley Hall/Fort Charlotte road and Sayers Village road,aA total amount of 14 kilometres (8.7 miles).
Francis said when the initial tenders were submitted, the tenders were beyond the amount of the financing and it was then the job of the PIMU to sit with successful bidders and negotiate a downward figure.
“They have come in with a figure that is within our budget 32 million dollars EC value that we got from Kuwait to cover not just construction but expenses of PIMU consultants fee all that is included in the 32 million dollars,” the minister said.
He said the roads were chosen in order of priority.
There is a sister project to this which is funded by the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).
The US$18 million project will cover a larger amount of roads.
These roads are: Eire Hill Road, Fair Hall Main Road, Richland Park Road, Gomea Main Road, Lauders – Chapmans Main Road, Benjamin Bristol Road, Copeland Mountain Road, Farm Mcmillan Road, Maloney Mountain Road, Mongoyia/ Bohima Road, Very Vine Mountain Road, Palmyra/Antoine Mountain Road, Lammie Mountain Road, Old Sandy Bay Road.
The project is expected to be completed in 32 months
Finally some positive news. Road repair and upkeep should be done on a continual basis. Also make the roads wider, less steep, install proper drainage and guardrails, street lighting for safety and better visibility at night. Don’t forget the roads in the Grenadines, the other part of the nation. This action will surely improve the lives of the people.
Just what our economy needs — more debt.
Why doesn’t this government modernize the various public service institutions by cutting them down in size thereby saving millions of dollars which could productively be spenr improving our decayed infrastructure? We have too many people sucking on the public teat doing little or nothing to earn their sour milk.
Oh, I forgot, there would a big loss in votes in the process. Conversely, building up debt has never led to the loss of a single vote in our backward little country.