SENIOR Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, on Thursday, presented the $22.5 billion (US$112,432,000) loan for the construction of the Linden-Mabura Hill Road in National Assembly. Minister Singh told the House that the loan agreement for the 121-kilometre thoroughfare was signed on February 24, 2021 between the Government and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). The road project ranks high on the PPP/C Administration’s development agenda, as it will revolutionise travel between Region 10 and the hinterland, since the existing thoroughfare is difficult to use during the rainy seasons. Construction is expected to begin during the last quarter of 2021 and completed by the end of 2024. The upgraded road will improve connectivity between the coast and the hinterland. Eighteen contractors submitted prequalification documents on April 15.
Additionally, 22 consultants have submitted Expressions of Interest (EoI) and several of them have been shortlisted. The administration expects a consultant to be on board for the project by September this year.

The Ministry of Public Works is conducting the project and has retained Mott McDonald UK in association with SRKN’gineering as supervisory consultant.
Last December, Dr. Singh commended the Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali-led Government for nurturing a stable political climate that facilitates funding from foreign financial institutions.
“Since the return of democracy to Guyana on August 2, as you would have seen President Irfaan Ali, his government, has set about in a very, very diligent way to re-engage the international community with a view to restoring the relationships with our major development partners, multilateral and bilateral. The discussion on this project has been going on for a long time so the conversation on the project in fact predates our demitting of office in 2015,” Minister Singh had said.
At the time, Dr. Singh lauded the spinoff benefits from the project which includes but is not limited to the bolstering of ecotourism through the improved access to tourist hotspots, such as the Iwokrama Rain Forest. The US$190 million road is being funded jointly by the CDB, the United Kingdom (UK), and Guyana. The UK is providing US$66 million and Guyana, the remaining US$12 million. (DPI)