Silica City Phase II to be launched within weeks – President Ali

…invites Guyanese diaspora investments

President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that Phase Two of Silica City, Soesdyke/Linden Highway, will be launched in a matter of weeks, with this phase focusing on attracting investments from the Guyanese diaspora.
During a visit to Belle West in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) over the weekend, President Ali laid out the future of transformative investments like Silica City. When it comes to Silica City, he explained that phase two of this project will feature investments from the diaspora and will be launched in a couple weeks.

“The next phase of Silica City. You know we have people in the diaspora. You want to know how we’ll be involved? Well, the second phase will be opened up within two weeks. And that second phase will be for diaspora investment,” President Ali said.
“You can come there, build your hall, build your apartment complex. And you will have your opportunity to own your own homes, in the next phase of Silica City. That is the diaspora phase. And that phase will be launched in two weeks.”
Silica City is the Government’s city project up the Soesdyke/Linden highway, that is expected to be fully developed by 2030. According to the Head of State, Silica City will feature 15,000 families and an emphasis on technology, wellness and environmental sustainability.
“Silica City, a city that will be built for 15,000 families. It’s not only a city, it’s a way of life. It’s going to extend life expectancy naturally because of the infrastructure and way in which the city will be built. Focusing on mental health, wellness, technology, self-sufficiency. This is what we’re building,” President Ali added.
A team, including Minister within the Ministry of Housing Susan Rodrigues and the Chief Development Planner of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), Germene Stewart, recently presented the Government’s plans for the construction of Silica City at the Berkeley Innovation Forum in the United States (US).
Conceived in 2009 and located on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, Silica City will be Guyana’s first modern, sustainable city. In August 2024, President Ali announced the completion of the planning model for Silica City, which forms part of his Government’s climate change mitigation initiatives under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
In November, the Head of State met with an executive team from Republic Bank Guyana to discuss collaborations on a number of innovative projects, including the Silica City project. In February 2023, a $2.1 billion contract was inked to develop Silica City. It is envisioned that, over the next two decades, this new secondary city along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway would grow to hold more than 12,500 households.
It would initially cater to just over 3000 households in the first five years, but 3800 acres of land have been earmarked for the new city. The first phase of the project would 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. In fact, construction has already commenced on the first 110 Young Professional homes in the city, and these works were 50 per cent complete as of November last.
The city will have high-end developments including smart homes with the newest energy-saving technologies for wastewater management, energy management, and water conservation. The city will have recreational parks, community centres, an electricity grid, and a multi-specialty health facility.
President Ali’s announcement that Phase Two of the city will focus on diaspora investments, comes as the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has been pushing for the diaspora to come home and invest.
The Government has been making deliberate efforts to encourage the diaspora to not only visit, but also invest in Guyana. Only last year, it was announced that the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Diaspora Unit would be partnering with Guyana’s first indigenous company to offer Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions to create a platform that will better enable members of the Diaspora to make enquiries and conduct transactions with Governmental agencies.
Data pertaining to integral services such as remigration, housing, investments, documents, and National Insurance Scheme (NIS) will be provided to individuals on request. In addition to NIS, persons will also be able to easily access document information from the banking sector; Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM); Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA); General Registrar Office (GRO); the Immigration Support Service Agency and the Passport Office.