OVER the years, the East Bank Corridor has undergone tremendous transformation as the Government has invested heavily in transforming a geographical space that was once a farming area into one where modern amenities are now taking over.This transformation has seen much support from the private and public sectors and which has realised such features as a number of modern housing areas, a system of interlocking roads, several commercial banks,

businesses and branches of city businesses.
On Wednesday, whilst on a visit to the area, President Donald Ramotar, accompanied by Minister of Housing and Water Mr. Irfaan Ali and Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, visited a number of on-going government projects, which all have the aim of continuing the transformation of the East Bank into a thriving residential, business and educational hub.

The President visited the ‘Turnkey 1000 Homes’ project at the new Perseverance Housing Scheme, located directly behind the Guyana National Stadium, which is moving apace and is creating employment for close to 500 persons, who are employed in the construction of two and three-bedroom houses that will be sold at $4.9M and $9M to qualifying beneficiaries.

As Government moved to construct the housing areas for Guyanese, emphasis has also been focused on putting in the social support infrastructure. Minister Ali explained that where historically the ministry has relied on the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) for planting poles and putting in wires to facilitate power to houses, the ministry has taken on this and in fact as soon as the houses are completed, wiring is facilitated.
The team also visited one of the several secondary roads that are being constructed among the housing schemes on the East Bank to assist with the vast volume of traffic emerging out of the massive development taking place along the corridor.
President Ramotar noted that they are good all-weather roads that will accommodate the future development and expansion of the new East Bank housing schemes, in a more structured way.
About 10 of these secondary roads are being constructed on the East Bank to facilitate the movement of traffic between the East Coast and East Bank. They also have the goal of linking Ogle to Providence.

Speaking with media operatives at Perseverance, President Ramotar recalled that when he visited the area almost a year ago for the commissioning of the ‘1000 Homes Project’ by the Housing Ministry, it was overgrown with bushes and very swampy.
“I was here when the ‘1000 Homes Project’ was commissioned and I am now pleasantly surprised that, in less than a year, this place has already been transformed,” he said. He pointed out that these areas now boast features such as modern housing schemes, a system of interlocking roads, several commercial banks, businesses and branches of city businesses.
The Head of State congratulated the Minister of Housing and staff for the excellent job they have done.
He said, “I am very happy to see a lot of working people being able to have their own home, not paying a rent any longer and this will also give them an enormous amount of personal security.”
He noted too that currently, the ministry is in the process of building infrastructure to connect the East Bank with the East Coast. He said that the roads are being constructed strategically with the low and middle income home owners in mind, where “the road network here will improve the value of the low income houses” and will alleviate some of the transportation cost for residents.
Also speaking briefly was Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh, emphasising that this is yet another example of the kind of development the government has sought to promote.
“The construction activity alone here has created more than 400 jobs,” he said.
“The average young Guyanese professional can now own his/her own home, quite comfortably, now this is not something that is beyond his (or her) dreams. Some 20 years ago, owning your own home was beyond the reach of the average Guyanese person; only a wealthy person could have owned his own home,” the minister said. He further explained that the PPP/C Government has changed this.