Over $600M in works completed along Linden-Soesdyke Highway

Infrastructural development for the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, with road upgrades spanning $1.3 billion, is being brought to fruition with some $600 million in works already completed.

Back in January, President Irfaan Ali had led an outreach to communities along this highway, and had pledged to upgrade the road network.
By June, the PPP/C Government’s community-centred approach to development had led to contracts being signed for numerous road development works at Kuru Kururu, Swan, and Yarrowkabra.
Of the $1.3B invested, Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar, informed on Thursday, works valued at $600 million have been completed.
“Many of the residents of these communities are benefiting from first-time access to sturdy concrete roads, after decades of sandy roadways that are often worsened by heavy trucks and rains,” Indar noted.
The 18 rigid pavement concrete road projects measure 12.36km and will result in highway-standard streets (4300psi) that would last for decades. Contractors were tasked with employing residents from these communities to work on these projects.
In Budget 2023, allocations were made to the tune of $136.1 billion to enhance roads and bridge networks. Throughout the year, it was announced that with projects under the Housing and Water, Public Works, and Local Government and Regional Development Ministries, more than 1100 internal access roads in communities across the country would be upgraded to concrete and asphaltic concrete.
Government had signalled that this year would see a major shift to community building and improving infrastructure, among other things, and that this would include massive spending on community roads and drainage systems. In fact, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo was quoted as saying, “And this year, you’re going to see a massive focus on community infrastructure, roads in communities. That’s the biggest concern of people: roads and drainage. And there’ll be thousands of new roads done in communities this year.”
On the East Bank Demerara corridor (EBD), 100 roads have been earmarked for upgrade under the Public Works Ministry’s miscellaneous road programme. For EBD, two bridges were projected to be constructed within the Diamond/Grove area to create an alternate route for commuters, with one bridge linking Grove and Jimbo Bridge Road and the other linking Grove with Craig.
Meanwhile, in May, a $117 million loan programme between the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Guyana was launched to develop the 24km of roadway encountered upon exiting the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. Over the next few years, Government has said, it plans to do remedial works on between 4000 and 5000 community roads across Guyana, including roads that were previously neglected.
At present, the Government of Guyana is embarking on a massive countrywide road-widening project. This is due to the fact that the existing width of roads is not adequate for the ever-increasing traffic. (G12)