Ilūkste suspends promenade project and seeks new builder

Augšdaugava Municipality has terminated its contract with construction company Jēkabpils PMK for a promenade along the Ilūkste River in the town of Ilūkste, LSM reports. Work at the site has been halted since July, and the municipality plans to find a new contractor.

The planned promenade currently consists of an abandoned construction site. Raised earth outlines and exposed ends of electrical cables intended for lighting remain visible, along with piles of stones and sand and sections of metal reinforcement. Workers managed to build concrete stairs and a retaining wall along the riverbank.

Residents have differing views of the delayed project. Elīna said she hoped construction would resume, noting that the unfinished site was near a large apartment building where several preschool and school-age children live.

“I hope they will restore it, because surely they will not leave these unsafe places as they are,” she said. “I think they will continue. If the council representatives do nothing, society will talk about it and everything will happen. Next year or the year after, let us remain positive.”

Another resident, Antoņina, expressed a different view, saying that projects in Ilūkste are often started but not completed. She also questioned the need for the promenade and said residents did not understand why it had been proposed.

Augšdaugava Municipality supported the idea of building the promenade along the river and secured half a million euros from European Union funds for the project. Construction began this year, and municipal executive director Pēteris Dzalbe said the work initially proceeded well.

According to Dzalbe, progress slowed over the following two or three months. Communication with the contractor then stopped, including responses to the municipality’s official emails and requests to speed up the work.