By BETTY VEDRINE, Guardian Senior Reporter

Groundwork for the continuation of the New Providence Road Improvement project has already started, said Minister of State for Public Utilities Phenton Neymour who reported that his ministry's contribution to the project slated to begin in June is on schedule.

"We are ahead of the game for this project and are expected to be on target," said Neymour, who was asked about the project last week at the launch of the National Energy Policy.

"A lot of work has been done," he said. "We decided to be proactive [compared to work done on] previous road projects. So we've been working from the summer of last year."

Neymour explained that, to date, many BEC and Water and Sewerage poles had been relocated to more effectively direct those utilities.

"We've increased the scope of some of the work for the road improvement project," he pointed out. "BEC is also relocating some of its poles along Prince Charles Drive."

Neymour added that some of the interruptions in electricity that residents in the eastern end of the island have experienced over the past couple of months were the direct result of the work being carried out for the project.

"This has been the result of the fact that we have been proactive; that we were making some adjustments and changes in the system ahead of the project so that when the project comes on stream, we won't have these interruptions," he said.

These measures, he said, would eliminate the double and sometimes triple digging and dredging normally carried out by the various utility corporations.

Minister of Works and Transport Earl Deveaux told The Guardian in an earlier interview that the project had been placed on the back burner due to delays with obtaining funding from the International Development Bank (IDB).

The Bahamas currently owes the IDB $29 million from a previous loan and funding for the road improvement project would mean an additional loan of some $80 million to $100 million to complete work on approximately 19 corridors.

The NPRIP has been in the pipeline since 2001, when its initial objective was to carry out construction of 19 corridors comprising of 15 miles of new roads and improvements to 9.5 miles of existing roads.

The project was modified in 2002, when the government terminated the contract after the United Kingdom-based company, Associated Asphalt, filed for bankruptcy in July 2001. Subsequently, with approval from the IDB, the project was revised. The result was the removal of corridor 14 (Harrold Road).

The resumed road project will be built to U.S. standards, according to officials.

The plan includes the completion of approximately 19 corridors, including an extension of the Milo Butler Highway from Carmichael Road to Cowpen Road; the Milo Butler Highway will be extended from its northern tip to flow into Tonique Williams-Darling Highway, Bethel Avenue and onto West Bay Street. Prince Charles Drive will be widened from the Mall at Marathon to Beatrice Avenue and will extend all the way up to Fox Hill Road. Also, Market Street and Blue Hill Roads are expected to be widened and additional junction work will be carried out on Marathon Road, Soldier Road and Wulff Road, between Marathon and Village Roads.

In total, the completed project will result in the completion of 24 miles of corridors and junctions, many of which will be four-lane roads and signalized junctions with widened junctions.

If the work begins in June, it is expected to be finished in 1,019 days, leading to a 2001 completion date.