Construction of $74M bridge at Alliance Road, Timehri to commence next week – Min Mustapha

Construction of an access bridge at Alliance Road, Timehri, East Bank Demerara (EBD) is scheduled to commence in a few days, according to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha during a meeting with farmers on Wednesday.
Mustapha reported the contract was awarded to R.S. Builders to the tune of $74 million and mobilization will be done before the end of the week.
“We already awarded the contract for $74 million for one of the bridges: the one at Alliance Road. Construction will commence in a few days. The contractor will begin mobilisation before the end of the week, so in a matter of days materials will be on site to commence construction. I also spoke to the Minister of Public Works [Juan Edghill] and they will do the second bridge so both bridges will be done by this Government,” he explained.

Farmers present told Minister Mustapha that a lot has been done to improve the drainage and irrigation infrastructure in the area, but said more work was needed.
Responding to issues raised, Mustapha said the Ministry through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) will work with farmers to ensure all of the drainage problems are addressed and encouraged them to join the farmers’ groups in the areas.
“We’ll help as many persons as possible. I believe if we can work with groups rather than individuals, we’ll produce more. So, all the drainage works that were mentioned, we’ll do. We have the NDIA engineers here. They will look to see what needs to be done and work out a programme for those works. Those works will commence in the coming weeks,” he noted.
Furthermore, the Minister told the farmers that the government has invested heavily to support agricultural activities in the area. He also told farmers that support would be given to assist farmers with crop diversification to boost production and the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (New GMC) will assist with securing markets for their products.
“We have to examine the possibilities of expanding cultivation by planting different crops. Most of you cultivate lettuce but we have to look at other crops. Crops that we have ready markets for. NAREI [National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute] will meet with you to see what you need; they will do the necessary soil tests to determine the types of crops suitable for the area then we’ll give you all the planting materials you need to expand. The New GMC will also assist you with the markets for these crops,” he added.
Farmers will also benefit from free acoushi ant bait and other inputs such as seeds and agro-chemicals.