FUNDING to execute an estimated US$10M engineering design for the critical Linden to Lethem Road is yet to be sourced, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge said yesterday. Since March 2014, the Guyana and Brazil governments have been discussing the financial aspect of the project after a proposal was submitted by a Joint Working Group established under the Guyana-Brazil Cooperation Agreement.

Even as the Guyanese and Brazilian governments continue to explore their options, the Region 10 Regional Democratic Council (RDC) is currently crafting a “Plan of Action” for the development of the district, which includes upgrades to the Linden to Lethem Road and the stretch of road from Linden to Kwakwani, according to Regional Chairman, Renis Morian who spoke to the Guyana Chronicle yesterday.
According to Morian, under the stewardship of Mortimer Mingo, a former Regional Chairman, a development strategy was established and submitted to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration, but that was “swept under the mat.”
“The development of the road is vital to the development of Linden, Region 10 and all of the communities along that corridor,” Morian said.
He recalled that in 2005, the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (SEBRAE) and the Chamber of Commerce of Roraima had proposed the movement of containers from Manaus to Linden by road, and then to Georgetown via the Demerara River, due to the economic viability of water transportation. At the time, it was costing them US$1,800 to send a 40-foot container down south for destinations in Europe or North America.
“It would have been a big opportunity for the people of Linden, and by extension Region 10, when you consider the creation of jobs, the possibility of improved infrastructure and commercial activities,” Morian said.
TRANSSHIPMENT TERMINAL
After a fact-finding mission in Boa Vista, Manaus and Belem in 2007, a US$4 million Container Transshipment Terminal Project in Linden was subsequently initiated by the Guyana National Industrial Company (GNIC) and the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP) in 2009.
But by February 2012, the construction of the container transshipment terminal was put on hold owing to the deplorable condition of the Linden-Lethem Road.
But while the poor state of the road has played a key role in halting the multimillion dollar project, Morian is of the firm belief that that the former PPP/C administration is to be blamed. “The problem came when the PPP/C government got involved. They told Go-Invest that Linden should not be a transshipment point. They wanted a port in Georgetown to be used. You see the whole objective of the PPP/C government was to under-develop Linden, so they would have stymied all of the projects that were proposed for Linden,” the Region 10 Chairman said emphatically.
Both Guyanese and Brazilian nationals have long bemoaned the state of the Linden to Lethem Road, despite constant repairs by the Guyana government. Earlier in the year, renowned businessman Stanley Ming had also said that the road from Lethem to Port Georgetown is necessary if the country is to become a transshipment port.
He said this project is not only important to Guyana but Brazil, explaining that one of Brazil’s major cities, Manaus, is home to some of the world’s major manufacturers, including Yamaha, Suzuki and Mercedes Benz, which is many miles away from the mouth of the Amazon River.
MANAUS TO ATLANTIC OCEAN
“They don’t make the goods; they manufacture purely for Brazil. A lot of it is exported to the rest of the world,” he said, pointing out that the challenge is to get the goods from Manaus to the Atlantic Ocean.
With no direct road link, goods are transported through the Amazon River by barge in a journey that takes nine days, he disclosed.
According to him, Brazil understandably has been behind Guyana for decades to build the roadway to an Atlantic Port in Guyana, be it Georgetown, Essequibo or Berbice, whichever is more suitable.
This, he said, will enable Brazil’s products to reach the Atlantic Ocean from Manaus in 24 hours, as against nine days.

By Svetlana Marshall