— Mayor says, talks up development in the town for post-COVID business

LETHEM is the capital town and main commercial hub in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) that attracted as much as 20,000 visitors daily before COVID-19 whether for business or for leisure, according to Mayor, John Macedo.

This town is located in the southernmost region of Guyana and sits just on the border shared with Brazil. It is the most populated area in Region Nine and over the years, Lethem has developed into a commercial hub.

The Mayor, in a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, explained that this development has its genesis in the region’s proximity to Brazil but also because the town is the main transit point for travel into the other communities in the region.

“People come to visit their families, they come to look for work, they come to work to take back supplies to the outskirts… and it is a reality that we are playing a major role in the development of other communities,” Macedo highlighted.

But beyond just meeting the local needs, the Mayor posited that the town’s private sector- which was previously headed by him, recognized, many years ago, that there are much larger business opportunities that this region could tap into.

“As the head of the private sector at the time, I always argued that we have to look beyond the 750,000 population (in Guyana) that was there since I was a kid…. We have half a million people just across the river (in Brazil), an hour from here, and a further two million in Manaus (a city in Brazil),” Macedo emphasised.

Cognisant of this market size, the Mayor explained that the private sector in the town has been positioning itself to target Brazilians and doing business in Brazil. The landscape of Lethem reflects this cognisance; the storefronts of businesses feature signs in both English and Portuguese, while few businesses feature the flags of the two countries.

LULL IN DEVELOPMENT
“If you look around you can see that these businesses were not designed for the 6,000 population of Lethem,” Macedo, who is also a hotel owner, reasoned. However, at the moment, there is a lull in development owed to the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to concerns of the high number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Brazil, coupled by the emergence of a new variant of the Sars-Cov-2 virus (the virus that causes COVID-19) there in Brazil, the local authorities have shut down travel between the two countries.

The official link between the two countries is the Takutu Bridge which connects Lethem to BonFim. This bridge, however, has been closed since March last year. On Thursdays, however, limited trade is allowed. This has stymied business and further development in Lethem, the Mayor lamented.

“Before COVID, on a good day, we get 10, 12, maybe 15,000 visitors,” the Mayor said. Later, he said that this figure would even increase to 20,000 visitors during a ‘booming’ business period.

The reduction of this influx of visitors has resulted in significant losses in the region, the Mayor noted. He explained that businesses were forced to downsize operations, some even closing for the time being.

This lull in activity was unforeseen but he noted that the local business community is waiting with bated breath for a greater ease in restrictions and the reopening of the border once the threat of COVID-19 has diminished.

“There was a time when the people of Lethem went there (in Brazil) to do business, now it is the reverse… Lethem is a trading bloc (and) we have a lot of cheap stuff,” Macedo emphasised, sharing his optimism that business would ‘bounce back’.

He also contended that Region Nine is the number one tourist destination in Guyana and Lethem plays a big role in the region’s tourism since it is where persons come to do business, whether it is replenishing their goods and supplies or accessing key services.

“Lethem can only become better. Everyday outside of COVID, we attract tourists and tourists that spend money in Lethem,” he assured, adding: “I would say that once the border opens up, things would change.”

‘PREMATURE DECLARATION’
While the town awaits the increase in business activity, the Mayor emphasised that the regional authorities have increased their advocacy to have all the relevant agencies represented in Lethem.

He lamented that there are not many Government services and agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) or other licensing bodies, represented in the town. For the region to enhance its development, he contended that all of these services have to be offered in Lethem, instead of forcing persons to travel to the coastal areas or the Capital City of Georgetown.

“It is my opinion that Lethem was declared a township prematurely,” Macedo underscored.

Lethem was declared a Capital Town in October 2017. According to the Mayor, however, there is still a dearth of infrastructural development and limited access to services in the region that should have been focussed on before the declaration.

In addition to advocating for necessary Government services, he emphasised that the road infrastructure needs to be upgraded. He explained that Lethem has one asphalt main road, but that main road is connected to a network of clay roads. These clay roads, he noted, create significant concerns over dust pollution.

Should these core concerns be addressed, the Mayor was sure that Lethem could become an enviable business hub that will be able to tap into the expansive Brazilian market.