AFTER a long time of waiting, it was no doubt a great relief for residents and commuters to see Hunter Street, West Ruimveldt, Georgetown, finally open and with a brand new look. Significantly, the old double lane road has been upgraded to a major thoroughfare with three lanes that will enable a more free-flow of traffic. Motorists and commuters can now breathe some sigh of relief since prior to the new road, traffic congestion in that area was a major bugbear.
In Guyana, road construction has been an area that has attracted much attention due largely to shoddy work by contractors and the Hunter Street project was no exception. It was therefore good to see that the Ministry of Public Works moved decisively to terminate the services of the previous contractor, who failed to deliver to expectation after labouring on the project for two years, causing great inconvenience to residents and commuters.
This showed that the government is taking a no-nonsense approach in dealing with errant and negligent contractors and one could only hope that there is no slackening-up on this stance.

The timely delivery by the new contractor of the Hunter Street project is most commendable, as well as the new features of the road which, among other things, include a safer pedestrian walkway, street lights and beautification of the space between the road and walkway, all to the tune of $150 million.
The project is part of a wider plan by the government to build new roads and upgrade existing ones to ease traffic congestions, reduce cost of travel and generally improve the livelihoods of citizens. While attention is being paid to build new infrastructure and upgrade existing ones on the coastland, simultaneously, similar attention is being given to road networks in the hinterland regions. This year, some $938 million has been allocated for major road works in several hinterland communities in Regions One, Seven and Nine in keeping with government’s vision to create avenues that will stimulate growth and development at the community level as well as the country as a whole. These impending works will significantly improve the standard of living of residents who reside in the targeted communities. The upgrades to the road networks will also provide opportunities for improved commerce and innovation across the hinterland.

It should be noted that these rehabilitative works will involve the construction of new concrete roads as a way to modernise the infrastructure and provide a more accessible commute to and from these communities. Some of these communities identified for work will also get a temporary road system to reopen several roads that were previously impassible. At present, some of these roads are impassible, but with these upgrades, persons would be able to traverse them with their ATVs, their tractors and any other form of transportation. Aside from these, Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill, was quick to point out other key benefits, apart from employment, that will be derived from the developmental works. “Business persons can expect to use less fuel to get their produce in these communities and that would benefit them; they in turn can reduce the cost attached to items and that would benefit the residents,” he recently told reporters.
Roads are a vital means of transporting people, goods and services from one point to another, and in the wider scheme of commerce, they act as arteries of development. This is particularly so, because where new roads are constructed, development springs forth and mushrooms. In a nutshell, farmlands open up, and housing schemes come into being. And with the opening up of housing schemes comes the provision of water, electricity, and a hive of commercial activities. Roads, therefore, play a key role in facilitating national development, as well as contributing to the happiness and well-being of the citizens in the locale in which they are built.