Ashoka Buildcon Limited, the Indian company which won the contract for the Ogle to Eccles bypass road project earlier this year, is among the bidders seeking the contract for the reconstruction of the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.
The Government is currently seeking a contractor for the reconstruction of the Soesdyke/Linden Highway. Based on the bids that were recently opened at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), both local and foreign companies participated in the bidding… including several familiar faces.
Among the bidders is Indian company Ashoka Buildcon Limited, which signed a US$106 million contract in June of this year for a four lane Ogle East Coast of Demerara (ECD) to Eccles (East Bank of Demerara) bypass road.
Dubbed phase one, Ashoka will be constructing a main alignment four-lane road stretching some 7.705 km in length. The project has a two-year construction period. The proposed road will commence at the junction of the Ogle Airport entrance road and the East Coast Demerara Public Road. It follows the existing Ogle Airport Road for about 1.2 km from the East Coast Road to Ogle Airport Junction.
The main alignment will traverse through the residential area of Courida, Prado Ville, connecting to Eugene. F Correia International Airport, and ends at the GUYSUCO factory area. Thereafter, the balanced length of the proposed alignment will traverse through the abandoned cane fields.
Meanwhile, also bidding for the Soesdyke/Linden Highway reconstruction project are China Railway First Group, China Road and Bridge Corporation and China Harbour Engineering Company Limited.
These three companies are no strangers to Guyana, having bid for and in some cases won contracts. China Railway First Group’s contracts include the East Coast railway and highway expansion project.
On the other hand, China Harbour completed expansion works on the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), to the tune of US$9 Million. These works had included an extension of the Airport’s boarding corridor in order to accommodate two more passenger boarding bridges, providing the Airport with a total of six boarding bridges capable of facilitating larger Code D and Code E aircraft.
Aronco Services Incorporated, a Trinidadian company, also submitted a bid for the Soesdyke/Linden Highway project. Meanwhile, BK International Incorporated was one of the more prominent local companies to bid. A total of 15 bids were received for the project, most of which were from international companies.
Only two months ago, a US$120 million loan for resurfacing the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, was approved by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). Earlier this year, a team from the ISDB visited Guyana on an appraisal mission for the loan request.
The IsDB team was led by Atiq Ahmad, Lead Global Transport Specialist – Economic and Social Infrastructure Department, General Directorate for Global Practices & Partnerships of the IsDB.
On the Government side, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill was joined by his Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Vladim Persaud, Dr Tarachand Balgobin, Director of the Project Cycle Management Division at the Ministry of Finance and Patrick Thompson, Chief Transport and Planning Officer. During the meeting, the IsDB team was introduced to their local technical counterparts from the Ministry of Public Works.
At the time, Minister Edghill had reiterated the importance of the Soesdyke-Linden Highway Project and assured the visiting team there is already an accountability system in place to ensure this project is executed efficiently.
The Government, through the Public Works Ministry, had previously pre-qualified contractors for the upgrade of the Soesdyke-Linden Highway. The Government had applied for financing from the IsDB toward the cost of the project and intends to apply part of the proceeds of this financing to payments under the contract for the reconstruction of the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.
The work in question involves the upgrading of the existing 72.43km two-lane, single-carriageway, and rural arterial highway. The scope of work also includes milling of existing asphalt surface course, application of varying pavement structures above the milled sections of pavement inclusive of asphalt, sand asphalt, and sub-base; full-depth pavement reconstruction in certain sections, construction of two roundabouts along the alignment, sidewalk extensions to nine multi-span bridges, drainage work, and utility relocation, and installation of roadway lighting.
The upgrade to the highway is part of several key plans that the Government has outlined for the Upper Demerara-Berbice region.
