$85M in contracts inked for Enterprise road upgrades

Two contracts valued $85M were signed on Wednesday for the construction of Factory Road, also known as the Enterprise Self Help Road on the East Coast of Demerara.

The contracts were signed by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Works Vladim Persaud during a simple ceremony held in the community.

Minister of Public Works, Deodat Indar said the construction of the road is in keeping with a promise made by Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo during a visit to the community about a month ago.

Construction of the concrete road will be done in two lots. The contracts were awarded to J&B Investments Incorporated and JS Engineering Services and Supplies at the sum of $42.7M and $42.3M, respectively.

“…We went out to a restrictive tender for this road which is 700 meters and 4.2 meters in width and the tender closed; it went through evaluation in a competitive way and we have selected two contractors to deal with this road,” Minister Indar explained.

He added, “We have split it in half so that the work could be done quickly too…So 350 meters for one lot and the other 350 for the other half.”

According to the Public Works Minister, over 35 roads were also fixed in the community and other neighbouring areas.

“In Foulis, we fix about 20 roads in two weeks…We outdone about 1700 tonnes of asphalt and in Enterprise…we put down about 2000 tonnes of asphalt in two weeks,” he said.

“This area, in the past two months from Foulis, Coldingen, Enterprise and so on I have seen a significant amount of work in these areas,” Indar said.

The project is expected to be completed within the next three months.

“The contractors…have good track record to finish it quickly,” Indar said.