THE Mandela-Eccles by-pass road was commissioned on Thursday by President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali. This is yet another significant milestone in terms of infrastructural development, and speaks to the great emphasis that is being placed by the current government on modernising the country’s physical landscape.

This is indeed a welcome development; one that the commuting public has been looking forward to for a long time. This road will greatly ease traffic congestion on the East Bank of Demerara, which, despite the upgrading of the main corridor from a two to four-lane road stretching from Mandela Avenue to Eccles, have proven inadequate to accommodate the volume of traffic, especially during peak hours. The agonising loss of valuable time has now been greatly minimized, and drivers can now breathe a deep sigh of relief.

The fact is that the number of vehicles on our roads have increased enormously, due to rising income levels and easier access to bank credits and other hire-purchase arrangements by auto dealers. And while the vehicle population is increasing exponentially, our main corridors, for the most part, remain the same.

All of that is about to change. The construction of a new four-lane road from Mandela Avenue to Eccles represents a much bigger infrastructural overhaul that will see a new road link between the East Coast of Demerara and the East Bank of Demerara, going eventually all the way to where a new city is envisaged. The idea of a new city on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway is the brainchild of President Ali when he served as Minister of Water and Housing in an earlier PPP/C Administration. This is indeed visionary, and forward-looking thinking regarding the modernisation of Guyana, and pushing the frontiers of Guyana’s development.

Speaking at the commissioning of the $2.3B highway, President Ali said that this investment is in keeping with his administration’s vision of transforming Guyana’s landscape, which will not just ease the traffic congestion on the East Bank corridor, but will also serve to transform the landscape of Guyana as the country continues its trajectory of development. According to President Ali, “We celebrate Guyana with this highway: We celebrate the soaring heights of Guyana; we celebrate the strength of our collective effort, and we celebrate the same wingspan that covers us all in glory. We celebrate the strength of the cause that would lift us from the lowest point in the ground, and take us to the highest point.”

Significantly, a monument was also unveiled at the new Mandela Roundabout depicting an adult Harpy Eagle weighing some 3,000 pounds with a height of 11 feet and a wingspan of 17 feet soaring in the air. “This,” according to the President, “symbolises the strength of Guyana; the wing signifies the protection of citizens, and the claws signify our collective capacity to lift our economy to soaring heights.”

We have every reason to celebrate, and the modernisation of our highways is only one of them. It is the infusion of new life into the economy, and a new mood of optimism and resilience and a feeling of leaving a difficult and fractured past behind us. These are now some of the defining characteristics of our ‘One Guyana’, as envisioned by President Ali.

The Guyanese landscape is already going through a period of social and physical metamorphosis. This is apparent in all the regions of Guyana, but particularly on the East Bank of Demerara, with its several new housing schemes, commercial banks, restaurants, shopping malls, and the several interlocking new roads which will allow for greater connectivity and interactions by the several communities.

As pointed out by Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal in his remarks at the commissioning ceremony, the completion of the new road will bring benefits to thousands of citizens in existing housing schemes. Already, more than 11,000 house lots have been allocated since the return to office of the PPP/C in August 2020.

The construction of new roads, especially in virgin areas, have a number of additional externalities such as the opening of new housing schemes, new opportunities for business activities and job creation. But it has also resulted in the increase on the real estate value of land and property. Thousands of people who are the beneficiaries of government house lots experience a sudden change of status from that of a tenant to a potential homeowner. That is a good feeling that is being experienced by tens of thousands of Guyanese, thanks to the aggressive and pro-people policies of the PPP/C Administrations.

President Ali and his administration must be commended for transforming the lives of so many Guyanese, and for modernising the physical and social infrastructure of the Guyanese society. Indeed, our image as a country and as a people is now changing in positive ways.