GUYANA’S developmental trajectory has reached unprecedented heights. This is so both at the local and at the international levels. The country is now in the international spotlight as a major player. As a member of the United Nations Security Council, Guyana was lauded for its advocacy role in the maintenance of global peace and sustainable human development.
At the local level, there has been a surge in development, which has touched the lives of all Guyanese in deeply profound ways. This is evident in all facets of national life, but particularly so at the physical infrastructural level as manifested in the new and changing landscape of the country.

Take as an example the road infrastructure. Roads and streets that were at one time impassable are now rehabilitated, and in some cases expanded to allow for easier access to both vehicular and pedestrian use.

It is a fact that quite a number of housing areas in the past were developed during the colonial period, with hardly any scope for further infrastructural development. This was particularly true for the housing schemes in the sugar belt. These were developed under the Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Fund (SILWF). Housing units were, at best, modest, with hardly any scope for expansion. The roads and streets were designed in such a way not to accommodate vehicular traffic, no doubt out of a colonial mindset, which was, at best, status quo oriented.

With the election to office of the PPP during the 1957-1964 period, several interventions were made to upgrade the quality of life, both in terms of the physical infrastructure and the delivery of essential social services such as water, electricity, housing and access to health and education. Unfortunately, that developmental momentum was thwarted after the PNC-UF coalition was catapulted to political office in 1964, thanks to foreign vested interests and local reaction.

With the return to office of the PPP/C administration on October 5, 1992, that momentum was again given impetus, and the country continued along the path of sustainable development. One major challenge of the new PPP/C administration was to rebuild decades of economic and social decadence, which characterised the entire period of PNC dictatorial rule.

Today, the entire network of roads and streets are being upgraded and expanded. Several new highways were constructed, and several others are now under construction. These infrastructural works have changed the transportation landscape, and, in the process, created new possibilities for development by linking communities and people in ways not hitherto possible. Already, a number of new investment opportunities are in the making along the Mandela-Eccles corridor, which will create hundreds of job opportunities when completed.

No less impactful are the ‘feeder’ roads which link villages and communities to the main roads and highways. These rehabilitated and resurfaced roads are everywhere to be seen, and speak to the high emphasis placed by the PPP/C administration on community development.

The PPP/C administration must be commended for placing communities at the centre of its developmental agenda. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that the country experiences its best moments, from a developmental perspective, when the PPP occupies the seat of government. This developmental momentum is likely to accelerate in the coming period under the PPP/C administration.

In the final analysis, development is all about people and the upliftment of their material and cultural well-being, which the current PPP/C administration is fully committed to, in keeping with its people-centered approach to development. The country is, undoubtedly, moving ahead along the lines of higher levels of inclusivity and prosperity. In the words of President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, no community or no citizen will be left behind.