The Ministry of Works and Transport is hoping to have a permanent fix for the Manzanilla Main Road known as the “coconuts” within five months, at a proposed cost of $70 million. The road collapsed on November 23 last year after days of heavy rains. It was the second time the road caved in that way. The first time was in 2014. Since the Bypass road opened in January, motorists have complained bitterly while residents and taxi drivers have staged several protests about its uneven surface, gaping holes and overwhelming dust or mud depending on the weather.
According to the ministry, the project entails works on the road, drainage, structure and landscaping. Approximately 1.6 kilometres of roadway was damaged. Part of that roadway will be raised by 450mm.
The ministry added that eight culverts will be created along the roadway in addition to the installation of flap gates and three-metre wide earthen drains which will store water and direct it to the culverts. All of those play a pivotal role in controlling the movement of water from the nearby Nariva Swamp to the Atlantic Ocean.
Director of the Programme for Upgrading Roads Efficiency Unit Hayden Phillip defended the quality of work done in 2014.
“If you drive along the road you will notice, even though it was three kilometres damaged last time, we only built over 800m of road and that 800m of road stood up because of what we did,” Phillip said.
He said the road has been tried and tested but he admitted only three culverts were built back then, which was not enough to control the 235,000 acres of water passing through the area.
“You can imagine the amount of water with no culverts,” Phillip said. “In 2014, when we had the issue we installed three culverts. With global warming that wasn’t sufficient.”
When asked why the project took so long to get started, Minister Rohan Sinanan said the process was not as easy as simply paving a road. He said it required multiple approvals which only came in last week from the Environmental Management Authority and more. He said it was “magic” to get those approvals. He said it also required studies and surveys.
“You had to study the flow of the water,” Sinanan said. “What caused the water to do that damage; where the water came from. You have to do surveys. Then you have to do design. It’s not just that you ask a contractor to come in and pave over the road. This is the rebuilding of a road. Then you have the tendering process to go through.”
He said sometimes it takes two to three years to get a project like this done under normal circumstances.
Sinanan said the Government was undertaking a major road rehabilitation programme but said it had nothing to do with election season. He referred to the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s promise that coming out of the pandemic, money would be diverted to roadworks. Sinanan said his goal was to repave “every road that needs to be repaved”.
Sinanan said, “But not just repave the road, we are actually going to rebuild the structure of the road, putting in drains in most cases because if you don’t have proper drains the road will not last.”
He admitted the new procurement regulations have slowed the process because several projects need to go to tender. He said what could have been done in three to ten days, now takes close to 60 days.
Sinanan said there was a rigorous technical tender for the Manzanilla project before it came down to price. The contractors are Carib Asphalt Pavers, Namalco and KallCo.