-President Ali says, highlights massive investments, works being done

WITH investments surpassing $80 billion, the East Bank Demerara corridor is undergoing a transformative expansion, with a focus on new housing, commercial growth, and major infrastructure projects, marking a pivotal moment in Guyana’s rapid development, President Dr. Irfaan Ali has said.

“This development, when you look at all the new investment on the East Bank alone, we’re talking maybe investment approximately close to $80 billion or more than $80 billion,” President Ali remarked during a Monday afternoon walkabout exercise at the back of Diamond/Grove where massive works are being done to open up new lands for housing.

“This is just transformation by any scale…this scope of work within four years, when we had two years of ‘COVID’, and you got all the other challenges, material logistics challenges, to achieve this is just remarkable.”

HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE SURGE

Among the most notable aspects of the East Bank development are the vast new residential areas, and the creation of thousands of house lots.

President Ali continued, “On the East Bank, with total regularisation, new lots and allocation, we will be closing past 8,000, 9,000 new allocations. In this development alone is more than 7,000 new house lots that were created.”

A major feature of the new development is the transportation infrastructure that links the East Bank to surrounding areas. The construction of over 30 new roads, along with enhanced connections to the East Coast will dramatically improve accessibility and mobility for residents and businesses.

“[The]Transport system has been well accounted for and taken into consideration in the development and laying out of this new phase of infrastructure,” the Head of State emphasised.

A HUB FOR COMMERCIAL GROWTH

While housing has been a focal point, the East Bank’s growth is also positioned to bolster Guyana’s economic landscape with substantial commercial investments.

Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal highlighted that the government has developed nearly 500 acres of land for commercial purposes.

“On the East Bank, it is not only for residential development,” he stated. “We also have a heavy commercial, and in that we have about close to 500 acres of land that were developed for commercial purposes, and this is outside of residential.”

Croal also noted that the area, once plagued by swampy land and underdeveloped infrastructure, has come a long way in terms of accessibility.

“Initially, a lot of infrastructure work went towards managing irrigation, because when we took over here on the East Bank, and as you rightly said, we’re very close to the conservancy, the land was pretty much swamp, and that is why we had longer periods for persons to be able to access their house lot.”

He pointed out that citizens can now access their house lots, and even further the process of securing their titles.

A VISION REALISED
Meanwhile, Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water Susan Rodrigues expressed gratification with the significant progress made over the past four years, particularly the support from the President and government in transforming the housing sector.

“We are really pleased in the Ministry of Housing and Water that we’ve gotten so much support from the President and from our government. That’s because this party, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic government understands the importance of the housing sector, and its ability to or its potential to transform the lives of ordinary people.”

She added: “It’s very difficult to tell that story of what has happened in this sector alone over the past four years without people actually seeing it and being able to visualise it.”

The East Bank of Demerara’s transformation represents a blueprint of Guyana’s broader development. With the momentum building, this growth is poised to continue, attracting more investments, and improving the standard of living of countless Guyanese citizens.