$67M approved to pay consultants, drain swamps for Diamond to Ogle road

Government Parliamentarians Thursday afternoon voted to approve $67 million to pay consultants for the new design of the Diamond to Ogle road.

In addition, the money will cover what Minister David Patterson said was costs associated with draining of a 30-acre swamp area along the new alignment identified for the project.

The funding is a supplementary provision to the 2019 budget for which $2.2 billion was already allocated in the budget.

Patterson repeated earlier statements that the original project was designed to link certain housing areas. Further, he said that the original design had one road, but the new design, which has been designed, caters for two roads linking the East Bank and the East Coast.

Funding from the Government of India was committed to the tune of US$50 million for the original project, but the new project is expected to cost more than double that.