GAICO Construction and General Services is set to commission a US$30 million marine facility in Guyana, located at Nismes Foreshore, West Bank Demerara, housing a wharf, dry dock laydown, and storage yard.
In its project summary to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), GAICO said the site is located approximately three kilometers from the Demerara Harbour Bridge and consists of four acres of land with full access to the Demerara River. Over the last eight years, the site was used as a wharf facility to moor company vessels and for discharging and storing equipment and construction materials. Drydocking and maintenance work is also being done currently for company vessels.
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For the project, GAICO had said that it would have two phases; the first completed saw the construction of the dry dock, a reinforced concrete wharf, and a laydown yard to be upgraded to handle heavier loads using geotextile fabric along with white sand, loam and first-grade crusher run. The second phase saw the construction of finger piers. GAICO posited that its project will complement all the other proposed developments for the West Bank Demerara area, including the Gas-to-Energy project.
The facility is expected to create new opportunities for the international transport of materials and goods. It is also expected to generate much-needed employment opportunities for laid-off workers of the depressed Wales sugar estate since the closure of the sugar estate, GAICO said.
The project is expected to create 100 full-time jobs during operation.
In addition, contractors and suppliers will also have an opportunity to develop operations on vacant lands nearby to offer auxiliary services.
