NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The government has extended major roadwork projects on New Providence and a number of Family Islands as it seeks to repair the deteriorating road network plaguing Bahamian motorists.
In an interview with Eyewitness News, Minister of Works and Utilities Alfred Sears said roadworks have been extended on New Providence, Andros, Exuma, Long Island, and a number of Family Islands.
In New Providence, major rehabilitation plans for Village Road, which the minister said has been designed and preliminary consultation with stakeholders in the community undertaken, are moving forward.
“We have a list of road works: that is paving and also patching of roads throughout New Providence,” Sears told Eyewitness News.
“We also have major roadworks being undertaken in Andros and we are looking at extending those roadworks.
“We also have roadworks being undertaken in Exuma and that project has been extended.
“We also have work being done in Long Island and a number of other Family Islands.
“In New Providence there is a major rehabilitation of the Village Road area and that work has been designed; preliminary consultation with stakeholders in the community is being undertaken and coordination with the utility companies is also underway to ensure proper coordination with the road work and the utility infrastructure.”
In July 2021, the Ministry of Public Works allocated $7.1 million in the 2021/2022 budget to rehabilitate the single carriageway between East Bay Street and St Andrew’s Drive, as the roadway condition had reportedly deteriorated over its 20-plus year lifespan.
Major roadworks to the tune of $4.3 million was also slated for Long Island with Bethell’s Trucking and Heavy Equipment Limited contracted to improve sections of the main Queen’s Highway in central and north Long Island, as well as various sections in the south.
According to the supplementary budget for 2021/2022, $9.55 million was allocated for roadworks on New Providence.
In 2020, the former administration pegged the roadworks throughout The Bahamas in order to plug “a huge hole” in deteriorating infrastructure at around $40 million.
At the time, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) urged the Minnis administration to “put money on the ground” and put “Bahamians to work and allow capital to flow through the economy”, claiming the then government had starved infrastructure in a “futile attempt to reach some elusive deficit range at the expense of national development”.
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