Carifesta Ave to be renamed ‘Avenue of the Caribbean’

With Guyana set to co-host the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of Government Summit in July this year, major plans are afoot to welcome regional leaders.

One such plan is the renaming of Carifesta Avenue, which runs from Vlissengen Road at the Kitty Pump Station to Camp Street. According to sources at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI), the new name of the road will be ‘Avenue of the Caribbean’.
Guyana Times understands the project concept was approved by Cabinet following which bids were open for tendering. The bids were opened last week, this publication was told. The project also entails facelift works along the road.
According to an advertisement placed by the MPI in March, the works are being done under the ‘Urban renewal on Carifesta Avenue: Avenue of the Caribbean’ project and is divided into two parts. One aspect will deal with lighting while the second will deal with civil works.
However the source noted that the $138 million project will see the road widening to the north and the creation of sidewalks along the road.
In addition, there will be a median installed in the middle of the road to separate the southern and northern carriageways. The source explained that one of the major bottlenecks on that road is Marian Academy which constantly has vehicles driving in and out, as such with the works planned for the road, “persons will not be able to go in and come out as they feel”.
Moreover, this newspaper was told that to commemorate the upcoming Caricom summit, plans are afoot to install flags of all the Caricom Member States on the median that will be placed along the road.
The Thirty-Seventh Regular Meeting of the Conference will be held from July 4 to 6, 2016 under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit and will be co-hosted by the Caricom Secretariat and the Government of Guyana.
Guyana agreed to co-host the meeting after Dominica pulled out. The Caribbean island suffered significant damage after Tropical Storm Erika battered it for five hours last August.
According to the Rotation Schedule for the Chairmanship of the Conference, Guyana will assume Chairmanship from January 1 to June 30, 2017.