Guyana, China sign US$45M road widening agreement

Finance Minister Winston Jordan and outgoing Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Zhang Limin signing the Framework Agreement
Finance Minister Winston Jordan and outgoing Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Zhang Limin signing the Framework Agreement

Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, and outgoing Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Zhang Limin on Wednesday, signed a Framework Agreement for a concessional loan from the Exim Bank of China for the widening of the East Coast Demerara road.

The signing took place at the Finance Ministry in the presence of Minister within the Public Infrastructure Ministry, Annette Ferguson, Director, Project Cycle Management Division, Tarachand Balgobin and other representatives from the Ministries of Public Infrastructure, Finance, and the People’s Republic of China.

At the signing, Minister Jordan noted that under the agreement, the Chinese Government will provide a loan of US$45.5M to facilitate the widening of and improvement of the East Coast thoroughfare.

The project will entail the widening of a section of the main road between Better Hope and Belfield, and will link numerous highly populated villages to Georgetown. Some of the immediate benefits to be accrued from this intervention include reduced travel time, traffic congestion, vehicular maintenance and accidents, Minister Jordan explained.

The project is also expected to enhance local and inter-regional trade since a significant part of Guyana’s economic activities rely on this thoroughfare.

Additionally, the Minister pointed out that the agreement is yet another demonstration of the strong bilateral relations existing between the Governments and peoples of Guyana and China over several decades.

Guyana has contributed $2.7B towards the project. Works including sand filling and removal of utilities are ongoing. This would ensure that the project will not be delayed like the West Coast Expansion Project and the East Bank Demerara Road Improvement project.

Ambassador Zhang Limin said the project is a good initiative to improve infrastructure in Guyana. Ambassador Limin gave the assurance that the Chinese Government is willing to assist in other projects.

The outgoing ambassador noted that his successor is capable of executing his roles effectively to better the relationship between the two countries.