-as gov’t looks to improve major highways, Dr. Jagdeo says

SINCE assuming office in 2020, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government has awarded several contracts for the building and rehabilitation of roads, bridges and other major throughway structures.

This was disclosed by PPP’s General Secretary, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo at a recent news conference, where he told reporters that the government has been making this strategic investment to better the lives of commuters across the country.

Works spanning across Regions Three, Four and Six are already underway.

“On the Mahaica to Georgetown highway its about 39 kilometres of [road] and 118 structures that would have to be built and widened, [in] Berbice, 60 kilometres have been awarded and you have 99 structures,” Dr. Jagdeo said.

Meanwhile at Ogle where a contract has been awarded to construct 11.2 kilometres of road, there are 40 structures.

Other major projects include the Mandela to Buzz Bee Dam where some 22 kilomtetre of road is under construction. The works include a connecting road that leads out to the main highway in that area and some 50 structures.

In Region Three, works are underway on some eight kilometres of road from Crane to the Demerara Harbour Bridge. There some six structure are being constructed, Dr. Jagdeo stated.

“On those alone we are going to be doing 312 bridges and structures that are already under implementation and 140 kilometres of four lane roads.”

“This is all in about four years, nearly two years of intense work in the post-COVID period,” Dr. Jagdeo added.

Recently, President Dr. Irfaan Ali emphasised that Guyana is heading in the direction of ensuring that safety on the roadways is being met through state-of-the-art technologies.

The President also revealed that by 2027, most of the nation’s infrastructural works will be done by Guyanese, owing to the local contracting pool being developed.
The PPP included a four-lane highway from Georgetown to Timehri in its 2020-2025 manifesto under the heading, “Infrastructure Boom: Building for the Future.”

The party gave its commitment that it will revolutionise the outdated infrastructure in Guyana and initiate work on several transformative infrastructural projects, all in order to provide a flourishing economy.

The PPP Government built and maintained more than 180 bridges, and some 1,651 kilometres of roads along the coast and across the hinterland in 2022.