New highways strategic in reducing economic losses for Guyana – Indar

In Budget 2024, billions have been allocated towards the completion of ongoing and new highway projects across the country, thereby opening new routes and keeping traffic jams at a minimum.
Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar appeared on the “Budget in Focus” programme on Thursday where he indicated that these injections have been strategic in reducing economic losses for the country.
The Minister recognised that “Guyanese people experience traffic jams for hours. They have to wake up earlier to go to work and they spent long hours in traffic to go home to their loved ones. The sum effects of the timing of everybody in traffic, if you calculate the economic loss to the country and personal loss to people”, are significant.
Some $225 billion of the $236.1 billion allocated to the Public Works Ministry in Budget 2024 is set aside for capital expenditure.
Indar reasoned, “The infrastructure that we’re building are strategic in nature. Coming from the East Bank, we will have 12 lanes coming into and out of Georgetown. That will reduce it…In Region Three, we created the bypass that will hook you from Schoonord to Crane, and it is opening up new lands. When you open up lands in new areas, it creates more economic activities and people now have access to stranded assets.”
On the East Coast Demerara-to-West Berbice corridor, upgrades have commenced to transform the Railway Embankment Road into a four-lane highway, from Sheriff Street to Orange Nassau and continuing to the Mahaica River bridge. In 2024, a sum of $10.5 billion is budgeted to continue these works.
Continuing westwards, work on the new Demerara River bridge progressed significantly in 2023, and a sum of $19.7 billion has been allocated to advance its construction.
In West Demerara and moving towards East Bank Essequibo, works advanced on the construction of a new four-lane highway from Meer-Zorgen to Schoonord and from Schoonord to Crane. In the first half of this year, the Schoonord-to-Crane section of the highway is scheduled to be completed. Some $9 billion is budgeted to advance these works in 2024.
Looking southwards, works were completed on the construction of the Diamond-to-Grove bypass road to facilitate the upgrading of the East Bank Highway from Good Success to Timehri. Approximately $4.1 billion has been allocated in 2024 to continue this project.
Works also continued on the construction of the East Coast to East Bank road link from Ogle to Eccles, which is expected to be completed in 2024. Some $15.5 billion has been budgeted.
Government has commissioned a new four-lane highway from the Sheriff-Mandela junction all the way to Diamond, and this year, the construction of the Diamond-to-Busby Dam section will be completed to connect to the Timehri four-lane highway. This carries a price tag of some $8 billion.
Rehabilitation of the Linden-Soesdyke Highway is expected to begin in 2024, with the procurement process having been launched last year. A sum of $10 billion has been allocated to commence works in 2024.
Construction of the new Wismar Bridge is also expected to begin in 2024, for which $4.2 billion has been earmarked.
Work also progressed on the Linden-to-Mabura Hill Road and the 45 concrete bridges along the route from Mabura to Lethem. In 2024, it is expected that the project will be advanced with the completion of these bridges. (G12)