Minister for Infrastructure, Ports and Transport, Stephenson King has apologised to the public for the inconvenience caused by delays in the Chaussee Road Rehabilitation Project, citing complex challenges as the main reason for the prolonged work.
During Monday’s pre-Cabinet press briefing, King acknowledged that the project, which started more than six months ago, has been “difficult”.
Chaussee Road is one of Castries’ main thoroughfares, connecting several inner-city communities to the busy city centre. The ongoing roadworks have exacerbated traffic jams in and out of the city.
Acknowledging public frustration over the slow pace of the work, Minister King said: “I apologise to the motoring public and the pedestrian public also, for the inconvenience caused. We understand the concern, but we’re doing all in our power and effort to get the road to normalcy.”
He explained that the road contains several utility lines, including water lines of varying sizes, sewer lines, and communication and electricity cables, which made the work more complicated. King further noted that the need to replace a 14-inch water line due to frequent leaks and ruptures added $2.6 million to the project cost.
The infrastructure minister added that contractors had to work meticulously to avoid damaging these critical utility lines.
“So quite a bit of that has taken place over the period of time to try and get it right, to get the connections to avoid any mishap,” he said.
Additionally, 96 manholes along the stretch had to be either constructed or reconstructed and adjusted to the new pavement level.
King said contractors are now moving into the next phase, which involves laying the base and conducting pressure tests on the new water lines “to make sure that the new lines are resilient enough to withstand whatever pressures that they’re going to put in there”.
The Chaussee Road Rehabilitation Project is part of the government’s Year of Infrastructure 2024 initiative, which aims to revitalise critical infrastructure across the island.
Gross incompetence at every level in this country. I’m surprised it hasn’t fallen into pure anarchy yet. Every bad decision by every politician is a cost to the taxpayer and a drain on future generations.
Everything the Minister cite as reasons for the delay are things that are usually part of this type of project. Project scoping should have identified these issues; the project budget should have anticipated them; the project plans and specifications should have addressed them; the contract procurement, which includes, time and costs, should have highlighted them. That is how civil infrastructure projects are usually handled.