MINISTER within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar said on Saturday during visits to several ongoing infrastructure projects in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), with President Dr. Irfaan Ali, that 1,085 roads are being constructed on the coastland.

“From the standpoint of the Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Housing and Water and the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development; the entire coastline, we have 1,085 roads under construction,” he said.

Minister Indar related that this is just since the beginning of the year and that there are more roads to be constructed.

He explained that many of the roads under construction are concrete roads because they are constructed faster; to some extent are cheaper and last longer.

The government has advanced plans to upgrade several major roads across Georgetown as part of its overarching objective to transform Guyana’s infrastructural landscape significantly.
Over $150 billion has been set aside in Budget 2023 to advance major infrastructural projects across the country.

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, had said previously that the government has been reorienting the focus of the national budget to invest heavily in the things that matter for long-term economic growth, particularly as it pertains to addressing the country’s infrastructural gap.

“We recognise the importance of seizing the moment to lay the foundation for investment; we see this as the moment to ensure that we address historic infrastructure impediments to long-term economic growth. Notwithstanding emphasis on infrastructure, we are doing all of this in the context where we maintain a disciplined fiscal stance,” Dr Singh related.

The government has done this through a conscious decision to shift expenditure from being heavy on government consumption of goods and services to a greater focus on government investment in infrastructure.