– first phase of construction to commence in October

THE days of having to carefully navigate through a deplorable Linden-to-Lethem trail are almost over, as government has confirmed that there will be a paved road from Guyana to Brazil.

“The final mission from the United Kingdom (UK) Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund (UKCIF) programme was here and we have decided that there will be paved road between Guyana and Brazil,” said Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, during his remarks at the launch of Cargo Consolidators Agency (CCA) Guyana Inc. at the Marriott Hotel on Friday evening.

Guyana had secured funding from the British Government through its UKCIF programme to complete the design of the road.

“We have long cherished a usable land link between Guyana and Brazil because we see business opportunities,” said Patterson.
He said phase one of the project will be launched on October 1. It covers approximately 125 kilometres of the road (Linden to Mabura Hill) and includes a bridge across the Kurupukari River.

The journey from Lethem to Georgetown takes as many as 13 hours depending on the state of the road. It recently became impassable. Once paved, the projection is that the trip will take no more than five hours.
In recent reports, Director of Northern and Western South America at the Brazilian Ministry of External Affairs, His Excellency Norberto Moretti, had said: “it is clearer now the potential benefits of getting this road paved; Brazil is very aware of its shortcomings in terms of infrastructure and the need to bring down production costs.”
According to him, authorities have also been trying to ensure the country’s development agenda is more geographically distributed.

Brazil’s wealth and production activity have been largely concentrated in the southwest and southeast. While the ambassador pointed out that the Northeastern and Central regions have seen progress in the last decade, he acknowledged the need for greater effort. Guyana’s recent discovery of oil and the projected increase in economic activity have also been cited as providing further motivation.

Guyana’s ambassador to Brazil, George Talbot, said, “I see a benefit to connecting Guyana domestically, Guyana to Brazil, and Brazil to the rest of the world.”
However, he explained that the road is just one aspect of the project.
“The road will not be enough in itself; it will have to be allied with the construction of adequate port facilities. The equation is really the port plus the road to make the project economically viable,” said Talbot.