BASSETERRE, St. Kitts-WORK continues to be carried out on the West Basseterre Bypass Road project that stretches from the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport to Camps Village, but the final cost and estimated completion date remain a mystery.
The project began in October of 2006 with a contracted budget of EC $18 million, and was scheduled to be completed by August of 2008.
With the construction now a year past the original projection for completion, the Prime Minister of St. Kitts-Nevis, Dr. Hon. Denzil Douglas, was questioned by SKNVibes at his monthly press conference on Wednesday (Aug. 26) as to the current financial cost of the project.
“I must admit to you, I am not certain if it is over budget,” he stated before expounding that a number of factors must be considered.
“It would only be over budget if there have been variations. In other words, some departure from what was the original plan. I can tell you for certain that the price of concrete, for example, and steel—those prices have gone up since the project started.
“If I were to give an educated guess, I would say I am sure the prices would have increased and that could have impacted upon the overall budget, but to say for certainty that that is so, I am not going to commit myself,” the Prime Minister said.
There have been a number of changes in design to the project and setbacks that have slowed progress, the foremost being the tragic collapse of a west-end bridge on May 14, 2008 that cost one man his life and severely injured two others.
Following the collapse of the bridge, the Minister with responsibility for Public Works, Dr. Hon. Earl Asim Martin, stated publically in the media that a comprehensive report on the accident would be published at the earliest possible date.
The report has yet to be seen, but the Prime Minister said Wednesday that Martin would have to deliver upon the statement eventually.
“Once the minister gave that commitment, I would want to take the minister to his word. So, if the report has not yet been made public…then I am almost certain that it may not have been available.
“I can follow up, of course,” he added. “Once the minister has given his word, then we would want to ensure that his word is credible. I will follow up on this definitely.”
A completion date for the project was not given at the press conference, but the Ministry of Public Works has stated that when the road is eventually finished, it will go a long way toward alleviating heavy traffic through downtown Basseterre, which the ministry estimates to have quadrupled since 1995.
