Families to be relocated by September to facilitate Berbice River Bridge access - President disappointed with contractor’s sloth
Georgetown, GINA, June 29, 2006
Government would have to postpone plans to relocate families whose properties are being acquired to accommodate the Berbice River Bridge project to later this year.
This stems from the contractor’s sloth in developing the housing area identified for the relocation at No. Two Village.
This is according to President Bharrat Jagdeo who visited the site today where the bridge will be built at D’Edward Village during the Cabinet Outreach to Region Five.
He met families who would have to be relocated. He explained that initially a timeline for relocation was set for July, but the contractor has not completed the $42M project to build roads, install the water network and minor infrastructural work, though the contract was awarded since April last. The contractor is Balmic Construction.
“The contractor is not working now on the project…I spoke with Minister Baksh and said they should complete the work by the end of August so that by the end of September those people could be relocated so that we could start preparing the approach for the Bridge…I am very disappointed that the contractors is not working. This is a big concern right across Guyana about performance and the quality of work,” he said.
Government would be shouldering a significant part of the cost attached to the multi-million dollar Berbice River Bridge project slated to begin shortly.
The Administration would be spending US$10M to build the approach road on both sides of the river. This sum would also finance the compensation of persons to be removed from the areas to be used in the project.
Fifty-seven families of D’Edward in Region Five and Palmyra in Region Six would have to remove their houses to facilitate the construction of the access roads. Thirty-five households have to be relocated from D’Edward.
Head of the Privatisation Unit, Winston Brassington said that government would be spending about $100M on compensation for the families whose proprieties would be acquired. For those proprieties with houses on the land, government would be giving them a houselot at No. Two Village as well.
Meanwhile, the President said “I am very pleased with the attitude o the people who we have been working with to relocate. They were very pleasant and we intend to work with them to ensure they are comfortable and that they are properly relocated.”
The compensation for residents range from below $1M to about $5M for households, residents said.
Many of them voiced their satisfaction with the compensation package, since they recognise the need for this major development project for Guyana and particularly Regions Five and Six.
The tender process for the approach road has not yet started and it is expected to take 45 days. The location identified for the bridge is 1.555 km in width and begins at D’Edward, West Coast Berbice, passing through Crab Island and linking to Region Six at Palmyra.
The Berbice River Bridge project is being managed by the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI), which currently has four shareholders: the insurance companies CLICO and Hand-in-Hand, the National Insurance Scheme and Secure International, a subsidiary of the Beharry Group of Companies.
The company has selected as the contractor a European consortium comprising the Dutch firm Bosch-Rexroth and the internationally-renowned British bridge-building company, Mabey Johnson. The Berbice River Bridge will be built to a design which is similar to that of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, but with variations in the technology.
The Berbice River Bridge is a commitment of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration to Berbicians.
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Financial assistance for Abary cattle farmers
- President Jagdeo tells West Coast Berbice residents
Georgetown, GINA, June 29, 2006
The financial assistance promised by government to Abary cattle farmers who were affected by the January 2006 flood would be delivered shortly.
This reassurance was given today by President Bharrat Jagdeo during the Cabinet Outreach to Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice).
The reason for the delay, he said, is that two lists were submitted and work was done to reconcile these, since the losses stated on the lists were highly inflated in many cases. There are 240 names on the list submitted by the Cattle Farmers’ Association.
“We still have not paid out the money because of the problems with the list. But these would be ironed out within three weeks. The Region is working with the Cattle Farmers’ Association and then we would cut the cheques. We have the money there but we want to ensure that the persons receiving the cheques are those who suffered losses indeed because we have had many problems in this area,” he said.
Government has given financial assistance to rice and cash crop farmers and those who were affected by the floods in 2005-2006. Financial assistance was also granted to households.
“We had some corruption and we don’t want that to happen again so the lists are being checked,” he said.
Dishonesty had smeared the exercise to grant flood relief assistance to households affected earlier in the year and despite some deserving households not being granted cheques, the exercise was closed.
This was the President’s response to disgruntled residents who queried whether they were still entitled to flood relief.
Residents complained that the distribution of the household grants was unfair, as some families received numerous cheques, while others received none. The correct procedure, the President explained, was to grant a cheque to each household.
The President agreed that some families received more than one cheque, but pointed out that the communities were asked to submit the list of names and the cheques were distributed publicly so that members of the communities would see if persons were collecting more than one cheque per household. No one made such reports.
The State has spent about $700M to assist flood victims during the worst floods over the past two years.
Several coastal residents also requested that financial assistance be given to their community and President Jagdeo explained that a criterion is inundation for an extensive period. However, he agreed to have technical staff return to these communities, including Ithaca to examine the drainage issues and work at solutions.
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