–project to create jobs for residents of Soesdyke-Linden Highway communities

PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan Ali, on Wednesday, said that construction will soon commence on the first 100 homes for Guyana’s first smart urban centre, “Silica City.”

The project, he said, will serve an impetus for increased economic activities in communities along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

“… We are building a number of houses in this area, 100 homes, starting very soon,” the Head of State said during a community engagement exercise on Wednesday.

Silica City would be located approximately 30 miles from Georgetown, 11 miles from the Soesdyke/Linden Highway junction, and some 33 miles from the mining town of Linden.

The President said that the construction of the homes will create jobs for young persons in the area, who are skilled and semi-skilled, putting much-needed money into the pockets of those people.

“If you are young people who want to work in the construction sector. We are building a number of houses… They need workers,” Dr. Ali said.

During his visit, the President also addressed the issue of illegal squatting in the Circuitville area, noting: “We have to make some decisions together, right? I don’t want you to live as squatters. I want you to live under good conditions and I want you to have your children to grow up under good conditions. So, we all have to make some sacrifices.”

There are over 700 persons living in over 300 houses in the area. The villagers expressed their wellness to be relocated in a legally planned area nearby.

“.. What I want is for us to do is move from this position here of squatting to regularised living. Let us work together in bringing some planned development in that way to get all the good facilities, water, electricity, proper roads, and the value of these areas, of course will improve tremendously,” Dr. Ali said.

A team from the Ministry of Housing and Guyana Lands and Surveys will be meeting with the squatters soon.

“Silica City,” which is a development that will transform the landscape of the highway, is the brainchild of President Ali, and was conceptualised when he was Minister of Housing and Water in 2013.

Its construction is in keeping with Guyana’s international commitment to the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS), to the New Urban Agenda, and follows the provisions of the Housing Act, and other guidelines.

The intention behind this project is to create an urban centre which would supplement Georgetown. Silica City is envisaged to tackle the issue of non-coastal urban settlement development and the challenges of climate change and rising sea levels.

Silica city will have, in its first phase, about 3,000 acres of land. The government has cleared the first 185 acres, which will feature the ‘Innovation Village’ and young professional homes.

On Tuesday, during a press conference with the media, the President said that India has expressed an interest in working with Guyana on the development of Silica City, and also the expansion of the urbanisation that is taking place. Other countries including Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have also indicated an interest in being a part of this transformative project.