THE Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, intends to build a road linking the Region 1 (Barima/Waini) villages of Mabaruma and Port Kaituma, as that can significantly reduce the cost of living in those and other communities.

Local Government Minister, Ganga Persaud made this disclosure during a recent press conference at his Fort Street, Kingston, Georgetown offices in the presence of Permanent Secretary, Collin Croal and his Deputy Abena Moore.
Minister Persaud said he is hoping to have sufficient budgetary resources to make the linkage possible in 2013.
He noted that Government is pursuing road links because they have a “direct bearing” on the cost of living. “With greater access to communities, the cost of living will go down,” he acknowlededged.
Currently, the authorities are “cutting lines”, meaning they are seeking to find a pathway that can facilitate the link.
“It all starts in this manner. We have compelling evidence to suggest that the possibility is a real one,” the minister stated.
Meanwhile, several villages in the Moruca Sub-Region would be interlinked through roads being constructed by Government. One of the routes, between the Santa Rosa satellite villages of Parakeese and Kamwatta, was visited recently by a team of officials. These two villages have a combined population of about 800 and the direct beneficiaries of the $9M project will be the approximately 300 residents of Parakeese, who are mostly subsistence farmers.
Apart from the two communities previously mentioned, the new road will also benefit residents of other villages, the minister said.
The road presently used there is approximately four kilometres long and would be extended by the project to between eight and nine feet wide. When completed, there will be restrictions on the types of motor vehicles that can use it, he cautioned.

More vehicles
Motor cars and pick-ups are already accessing the thoroughfare but it is expected that, by the end of the project, more vehicles would be able to do so.
According to Minister within the Local Government Ministry, Mr. Norman Whittaker, who was part of the visiting team, there are now about 50 motor vehicles in the area, as compared to 1992, when there were just two or three belonging to wealthy people.
The contractor to undertake the road works is Mr. Raghubir. He is using a mix of loam and sand and as soon as there is an ease in the rainy weather, work will progress rapidly.
Minister Whittaker said Raghubir has done quite a lot of work in this sub-region and is familiar with the territory and its people.
“We can now drive from Kumaka to Waramuri, whereas, before the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) time, it was just a trail and you had to use the river. The road from Santa Rosa to Hymacabra is also complete and one can have an alternative means of transportation,” Whittaker observed.
He said work is also being done on the link between Santa Rosa and Manarawin and, despite the massive cuts to the 2012 National Budget, he is optimistic that similar development will continue.
“I can see the nods in the heads of many people when I refer to the investment in education and the tangible results obtained,” he said.