Building roads is not about how much money is spent; it is about changing lives – Edghill

Although the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has spent billions of dollars in constructing and rehabilitating roads since taking office last year, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill stated that the aim is to improve the lives of the citizens.

Since August last year, more than six hundred roads have been upgraded by the Government.
Speaking at a simple ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday at Kilturn, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), where the Eversham/Kilturn northern walkway was upgraded from earth to asphaltic concrete, Minister Edghill said the $28 million spent is expected to make access easier for the residents.
Asquith Hamilton, the contractor who undertook the project, explained that apart from the poor condition of the walkway, there were no road shoulders at the commencement of the project.
“It was a swamp and we had to create two road shoulders to get this done.” According to Hamilton, he was able to overcome the many challenges which were presented by working in tandem with the regional engineer.

However, Edghill pointed out that engineers are paying more attention to their responsibilities while noting that the quality of work that is being carried out around the country is where it ought to be.
“It is a celebration for the improvement of the lives of the citizens who live in this area. It is the small things that matter.”
He emphasised the need for road surfaces to be up to standards in the event of an emergency, vehicles will be able to access the homes of all citizens.
He also pointed out that some social activities in the villages are being been shut down due to the state of the street leading to homes.
“Some people don’t go out anymore because they have to take off their shoes to walk in the mud to get out and when they get back and the place is dark they cannot walk through the mud…”
According to Minister Edghill, Government will continue to build and upgrade roads across the country to improve the lives of all Guyanese.
“The decision that we have made is not just to give people a ‘feel-good’ but we want to have what is called sustainable development. We want to be able to have what is called resilient infrastructure. We want to be able to have what is called value for money, so we are not just throwing crusher-run and grading it, we are building solid aliphatic concrete roads.”
Those roads, the Minister added, will be able to last for years.