Up to US$23.8B in infrastructure investments needed to bridge gaps, maintain competitiveness – Pres Ali

– IDB had highlighted Guyana’s need to upgrade transportation network

Based on assessments done by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), up to US$23.8 billion in infrastructural investments are needed by 2030 to bridge gaps hindering economic growth in Guyana.
This, according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali, is one of the factors behind the government’s lavish infrastructural spending.
During a recent broadcast, President Ali addressed the infrastructure needs of Guyana, which the government has been addressing through its investments in infrastructure. The President noted that without reducing this infrastructure gap, Guyana would have struggled to compete internationally.
“To reduce the infrastructure gap, that is what we have to do. Reduce the infrastructure gap. This is what helps to bring equity between regions. Without investments in physical infrastructure, it would not be possible to improve the country’s international competitiveness. Or the barriers to private sector, development and economic growth,” the President said.

The President cited areas in which the government has been concentrating, such as improving access to healthcare and quality education, improving water and sanitation, to have more than 90 per cent of people on the coast having access to treated water.
He pointed out that the Inter-American Development Bank itself had done an assessment, in which it highlighted Guyana’s infrastructure gap. This gap, according to the IDB in this assessment, would need between US$9.4 billion and US$23.8 billion, to bridge.
“Without investments in physical infrastructure, it would not be possible to improve the country’s international competitiveness. If we don’t do this, how are we going to improve our international competitiveness? How are we going to get rid of the barriers to private sector development and economic growth and expansion?”
“According to the IDB, the deficient transportation network stifles economic opportunity in every sector. This is what the IDB said. What did we do to address this? To address the infrastructure gap, the IDB estimated that we would have to invest between US$9.4 billion, to US$23.8 billion, by 2030. To upgrade the transportation network, and expand the energy grid, is exactly what we’re doing.” President Ali explained.

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is undertaking several massive projects with a 2030 and beyond focus, including the US$260 million Demerara River Bridge, the US$190 million Linden to Mabura road and a bridge across the Berbice River. In the case of the Demerara River Bridge, the structure will have a lifespan of 100 years… far eclipsing the lifespan of the old bridge.
The new bridge will be a fixed 2.65-kilometre, four-lane, high-span, cable-stayed structure across the Demerara River, with the width of the driving surface being about 23.6 metres. The bridge, which features a bicycle lane, will bring an end to closures to vehicular traffic with a 50-metre fixed-high span to cater for the free flow of vessels uninterrupted. The river will be dredged along a 13.5-kilometre stretch to accommodate large vessels.
Another long-term project will be the Gas-to-Energy (GtE) Project, which will have a lifespan of 25 years when complete. It will feature approximately 220 kilometres of a subsea pipeline offshore from the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels in the Stabroek Block to Wales, West Coast Demerara (WCD).
Upon landing on shore, the pipeline will continue for approximately 25 kilometres to the Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) plant to be constructed in Wales. The pipeline would be 12 inches in diameter and is expected to transport some 50 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of dry gas to the NGL plant, but can push as much as 120 mmscfd.
In the 2024 budget, a sum of $80 billion had been earmarked for the transformative GtE Project. In the first half of the year, $40.8 billion was spent on this project. This is according to the Mid-Year report. (G-3)