Works to further extend the East Bank Demerara four-lane highway from Diamond to Buzz Bee Dam have commenced and the project is expected to be complete by the end of 2024.
“That is a continuation from the current Diamond, where we ended…So it is now a continuation from Diamond to Buzz Bee Dam. We are aiming to be complete by the end of 2024,” Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal told the News Room on Thursday.
The Diamond to Buzz Bee dam highway will be an asphalted concrete structure, measuring 4.6 kilometers.
In November 2023, contracts for the project were awarded to the tune of $11B.
The cost also includes funds for revetment works that have to be done for drainage and irrigation in the area.
The works, Croal said commenced this month following the mobilisation of the necessary resources.
The project is being executed in lots by different contractors.
“We went out to tender and based on tender, it was done in lots. So it’s five contractors who are doing the physical works and there is one other (contractor) that was contracted for supplying some sheet piles,” Croal explained.
The first phase of the road project, which stretches from Eccles to Mandela, was commissioned in April 2022.
Subsequently, contracts amounting to another $13 billion were awarded to continue the road from Eccles to Diamond. This section of the highway was commissioned by President Dr Irfaan Ali on December 10, 2023.
It was named the ‘Heroes Highway’ in honour of five soldiers who died in the line of duty earlier this month while on a border mission.
The four lane highway forms part of government’s effort to significantly reduce traffic congestion on the East Bank corridor.
