Saudi Fund officials briefed on Silica City, other infrastructure projects

– visit several developmental projects

A high-level team from the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) was on Sunday briefed on the Guyana Government’s model smart urban centre – Silica City.
Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Sherwyn Greaves, led a team from the Ministry of Housing and Water agency to make presentations before the high-level delegation.

SFD’s CEO Sultan Abdulrahman Al-Marshad is leading the delegation on a three-day mission in Georgetown during which two development loan agreements will be signed with the Guyana Government for infrastructural works to the tune of US$150 million. The other visiting officials are Faisal Sulaiman A Al-Khushaiban, Fahad Abdullah R Al-Haqbani and Randah Faisal A Al-Hothali.
One of the two loans that the SFD team will be signing with Guyana is for the financing of infrastructural development works in the housing sector. The other project that will be benefitting from the SFD financing is the Wismar Bridge project.
During Sunday’s presentation held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) in Greater Georgetown, Greaves along with his Chief Development Planner, Germene Stewart, made presentations on priority development projects, Silica City, housing development and road infrastructure.
According to a brief statement from the Housing Ministry, Greaves delivered a comprehensive and in-depth presentation on proposed projects for infrastructural development in Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Four (Mahaica-Berbice) and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
This presentation was then followed by one done by Stewart on the preliminary development concept for Silica City.
Also in attendance at the engagement were Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal; the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Andre Ally; Director of Projects Omar Narine, and other technical staff. Representatives from the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Finance including Finance Secretary Sukrishnalall Pasha, Director of Budget Sonya Roopnauth, and other technical and support staff were also there during the briefing.
Following the presentations, the visiting delegation was then led on a tour of several project sites, where the Ministry is executing development works.
The tour started off at the new Cummings Lodge Housing Scheme, then to the road network linking that area to South Ruimveldt, followed by the Mandela to Eccles and Diamond bypass road project. The delegation also toured the Providence Young Professional Housing Scheme.
Earlier in the day, President Dr Irfaan Ali met with the SFD delegation.
Under its housing and urban development plans, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic-led Government has been working assiduously to fulfil its manifesto promise of providing 10,000 house lots to citizens each year and it has been well on the way to achieving its 50,000 targets this term, with over 20,000 delivered in its first two years in office. In Budget 2023, $54.5 billion was allocated for housing development in new and existing areas.
The State-owned Saudi Fund for Development finances development projects in developing countries by granting them the necessary loans, and technical aids necessary for financing studies and institutional support.
Back in July 2022, a 60-person Saudi Arabian investor delegation, led by Deputy Minister for Investors Outreach, Badr Al Badr, visited Guyana to meet with local stakeholders and explore potential areas for collaboration.
During a Guyana-Saudi Arabia Investment Engagement, President Ali declared that Guyana’s doors are open for investments that are of a transformative nature and will benefit the people of this country.
One of the major developmental projects the Government has touted to potential investors from around the world is Silica City, which is a brainchild that was conceptualised by President Ali during his tenure as Minister of Housing and Water.
Silica City, Guyana’s first smart urban centre, is intended to be a smart city, powered by renewable energy and developed with the Administration’s revised LCDS, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and goal 11 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which speaks to building sustainable cities and communities, in mind.
Silica City will initially cater for just over 3000 households in the first five years, and eventually grow to house more than 12,500 households when completed. The first phase of the project will see an initial 400 young professional homes being constructed. It was previously reported that the Housing Ministry had already begun shortlisting persons for these homes.
Preliminary work at Silica City on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway has commenced, paving the way for the construction of the first 100 homes. Works at the site commenced in January this year by one of two contractors, Geraldo Alphonso.