— Foreign Minister
THE feasibility study for the Linden-to-Lethem road has been completed, and it includes the areas of interest which Brazil had requested to be included in the study. At a press conference on January 5, Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett disclosed that this information will be shared with Brazil as discussions for the project are advanced. The road is on the agenda for discussion when the two countries meet in Brazil shortly.
“We would like to see this project accelerate quickly, but we also have to be very patient,” she said.
Meanwhile, Government continues to expend resources on rehabilitating the road, and several contracts were signed in this regard during 2011. Work has since started on the road, and although significant improvement has been made, more still needs to be done, particularly relative to repairing the bridges.
At the commissioning of the Takutu Bridge, which created the first physical link between Guyana and Brazil, former Brazilian President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva had described the link as “a concrete and irreversible step”. Paving the road from Lethem to Linden is also included in the construction aspect of the road.
Speaking through his translator, the former president had stated that when the road is completed, it will represent a total land link between Boa Vista and Georgetown, and “an expansion of the prospects for development between Guyana and the entire northern region of Brazil.”
During a meeting with President Jagdeo at State House in July last year, Governor of the State of Roraima, Jose de Achieta Junior, had discussed the possibility of Brazil financing the Linden/Lethem road project.
The stretch of road can be divided into the following sections: Wismar to Mabura Hill, Mabura Hill to 15 Miles, and 15 Miles to Lethem.
The Linden-to-Lethem road is one of the most important road networks used by heavy volumes of traffic travelling to the hinterland areas. Rainy seasons, however, create access difficulties involving the road. (GINA)