The preparatory works for the beautification of the Kingston, Georgetown Seawall waterfront will be completed within a week. This will then pave the way for other aspects of the beautification project which is the brainchild of First Lady, Her Excellency Arya Ali.
Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill on Friday, inspected the works for which his ministry is managing. The Minister was accompanied by Project Manager, Jermaine Braithwaite.
“Right now, what should be happening is a wrap-up, we have had some slight delays. This should have been finished by December 31 but this is a wrap-up and I just told Mr. Braithwaite all the contractors must start cleaning up. This space is too important to be left with construction waste. New projects will be awarded to continue to enhance what is happening out here to bring it to its finality, but the works for 2021 are 98 per cent completed,” Minister Edghill said.
Some of the works remaining include the backfilling for the construction of the extensive apron which will house 24 vending units. Of the 24 units, the government will be constructing 11 while the First Lady’s Office, in collaboration with the private sector, will be undertaking the remaining 13 units. The waterfront will also have permanent washroom facilities.
Meanwhile, Project Manager Braithwaite explained, “On the tarmac which is the elevated area, we will be doing some improvements, as well. There is a waterfront promenade that is going to be done there, that is in progress. The tarmac itself will be upgraded, the surfacing will be done and ultimately what we want to do is to extend this work going to NCERD road towards the Marriott (Hotel) which will come in the second phase of the development.”
The contracts for the construction of the apron and the vending units have already been awarded. Construction will commence after the initial works are completed. With that, Minister Edghill said the development of waterfronts will be replicated throughout the country.
He added, “Linden must experience the same thing; we have been spending some money in Linden and we will be going with a phase two in their waterfront development both on the Linden shore and Wismar shore. Charity, as well as Supenaam must experience the same thing. There are plans for us to do things all the way in the Skeldon area where we just finished doing the sea defences out there. There are plans for the development of the UG road to Ogle. So, waterfront development, recreational spaces must be something that we are advancing while we are keeping our sea and river defences intact.”
The cost for the entire project rounds up to $92.36M. The beautification of the Kingston area is intended to boost tourism and provide a safe space for Guyanese to enjoy.
