Anyone traversing the length and breadth of Guyana cannot help but notice the tremendous, transformational changes that are taking place. These changes are multi-faceted and include better access to social services, such as the supply of potable water; better housing and sanitary conditions; improved employment, recreational and health facilities, among several others.

There is, however, one development that stands out mainly because it touches on the quality of life of people directly. The construction of roads at the village and community level has resulted in Guyanese now being able to walk on paved roads in areas where none existed before.

The construction of such new roads is a significant development in its own right. But it goes beyond the fact of better transportation. Gone are the days of people, including schoolchildren, having to take off their shoes during the rainy season to go about their business. They all now take advantage of better roads to work, many through motorised vehicles, which have increased geometrically. Bicycles are gradually becoming a thing of the past as an increasing number of people are now travelling via motorcars or battery-powered bikes. That is possible because of the newly constructed network of roads in several villages across the countryside, including some of the more isolated and remote communities.

The massive investments in infrastructural development have created a new dynamic which has deeply touched the lives of all Guyanese in profound ways. A significant number of Guyanese people are now finding employment in the construction sector, fueled by the government’s massive public sector investment programmes. Apart from job creation, one consequence of such a development is that wages have become much more competitive. This, in turn, has translated into higher disposable income and a consequential improvement in the workers’ standard of living in the construction sector. The building of construction capacity has also increased with the award of contracts to an increasing number of local contractors. All of these are positive steps from the standpoint of local capacity-building.

In all of this, credit must be given to the PPP/C administration for mobilising the financial resources for such a massive undertaking as is currently underway. And while it is true that the country is benefitting from significant inflows of money from the oil resources, it is also true that the government has been successful in raising the capital to finance such development and in striking the right balance between capital expenditure and recurrent expenses, such as improved wages and salaries and social spending.

The faces of communities are changing with the construction of roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. This is true nationally as it is at the local community level. This bears testimony to a people-centred approach to development, one in which the fruits of development benefit the population as a whole, regardless of race, ethnicity, political affiliation, or geographic location. This, in essence, is what President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s ‘One Guyana’ vision is about – holistically enriching the lives of the Guyanese people.