HIGHLY respected engineer Philip Allsopp, AA, who contributed to Guyana’s development and has a great history in civil engineering, died on Wednesday at age 95. Allsopp was born on April 8, 1926 in Charlestown, Georgetown. He attended Queen’s College, and, after leaving school, joined the Public Works Department in colonial British Guiana.

He was awarded an Engineering Scholarship in 1949 to pursue civil engineering studies at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, UK. Philip Allsopp was appointed Ambassador to the Federative Republic of Brazil in 1990 and was awarded the Golden Arrow of Achievement (AA) for his public service.

He was the father of five. His contribution as an engineer was so highly recognised by his peers that the Guyana Association of Professional Engineers (GAPE), which he had been a longstanding member of, had asked him to write a history of civil engineering in Guyana.

He has also written numerous publications and technical reports, including the preparation of a Maintenance Manual for Farm Access Roads, and an assessment of the priority projects for the transport sector for the years 2000-2010. This was an IDB-funded project. In the early 2000s, Allsopp was also Arbitrator/Adjudicator in several engineering disputes and designed roads for the Guyana Sugar Corporation, among others.

On Wednesday, the People’s National Congress Reform expressed condolences to the family members, relatives and friends of Allsopp. The party noted his key roles in advising, designing or overseeing works on several roadways and highways – including the Georgetown-Timehri; Soesdyke-Linden; Linden-Mabura; Mahaica-Rosignol and within the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary Development Project – and in the negotiations for the construction of the Guyana-Brazil international bridge and in talks for the Guyana-Suriname ferry.