By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
DAYS after press secretary Clint Watson announced that work on Village Road should be completed by December 12, Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears said paving of the road is actually expected to last through the end of next month, but should be “substantially” completed before the start of the new year.
“I never said December 12,” Mr Sears told reporters before yesterday’s Cabinet meeting when asked for an update on the project.
“Let me just tell you that the roadworks in Village Road (are) progressing very well. And I thank the stakeholders who have been inconvenienced - and several stakeholders have also had to provide land for the expansion of the road.
“The work is progressing. The Water and Sewerage Corporation has had to do some additional work in terms of the water mains and I had a meeting with Water and Sewerage, BPL and BTC with the Ministry of Works and also with the contractor and they have a coordinated strategy.
“The paving of the road will begin in the first week of December, near the end of the first week of December, and it will be in three phases.
“So, those phases of paving will take us through December, and it is expected by the end of December 2022, they will be substantially completed.”
The $6.4m road project was started in the hope of rehabilitating and improving utilities. It is also designed to install new electrical and water utilities along with improving traffic control.
While it was originally expected to be completed in September, there were several delays after more work was added to the project, causing frustration among some businesses and homeowners in the area.
Yesterday, Mr Sears gave some additional insight into the cause of delays, citing the need to sometimes repair ruptured pipes among other things.
“With this kind of work,” he added, “as they are excavating sometimes you have the pipes and cables which are buried, and which may not be on the diagram and when you have a disruption that particular utility entity has to come and repair it because it would have been ruptured inadvertently.
“So, there have been a number of cases like that. Also, the Water and Sewerage Corporation has determined that it will utilise this opportunity for a major expansion of the sewer system in that community and also the infrastructure is intended to also serve certain parts of Paradise Island as well.
“So, you have a major upgrade and redevelopment of the infrastructure that is the water, the power and the telecommunications infrastructure so that it can be adequate for the expected expansion of that particular community as well as the surrounding communities so that has been the reason why there has been some delay.
“But I’m very pleased with the briefing I got, that by the end of December 2022, the project will be substantially completed,” he continued.
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