By Navindra Seoraj

ESSEQUIBO Coast residents will soon have much more to be proud of as government moves to transform public infrastructure in Region Two.

Government will soon modernise the Charity Water Front and extend the main access road to create a dual carriage road. Those and other projects are part of government’s Vision 2020 plans.

“We are doing all of this now, imagine what we can do with oil money,” said Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, during a community meeting at the Queenstown Primary School, Essequibo, on Wednesday.
Patterson told residents that there is a lot to be done but it will take time and patience in order to make real progress.

Apart from the Vision 2020 projects, Patterson said there are initiatives in the pipeline for the remainder of this year.

Among those projects are the restoration of the dilapidated Good Hope Ferry Stelling; the installation of street lights from Supenaam to Charity and much more.

“I see you have LED lights, but government has made a commitment to ensure they light the entire Essequibo Coast,” said the public infrastructure minister.

In addition to lights, he said Essequibo can expect more reliable electricity as government plans to construct a solar farm.

According to Patterson, government has started the process to procure equipment for the farm which is expected to produce four megawatts of power.
“With this, we hope to give you cheaper electricity,” said Patterson, adding that there will be better systems in place. Residents of Essequibo started to rejoice after hearing the news.

“Seeing this makes me happy… individuals and political parties cannot compete with you when you have so much vision,” he said.

Patterson believes that the citizens of Essequibo must move forward because once there is a will, there is a way.

He encouraged residents to support the government in their efforts to make Guyana a better place.

Some $4.5B was allocated in the 2019 budget for Region Two’s (Pomeroon-Supenaam) development and transformation with $175M to be spent on projects in the education sector.

Among the transformative projects executed in Region Two in 2018 was the 300-metre sea defence project at Johanna Cecilia, Essequibo Coast and the asphalt road at Onderneeming, costing $40.1M. Three new generating sets were also installed at the Anna Regina Power Station.