$60 B in road projects slated for Region 10

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced at a recent outreach in Linden, that approximately $60 B in the construction and upgrading of roads in the Upper Demerara-Berbice Region is expected to be executed in 2022.

The contract for the construction of the Linden to Mabura road has been signed and works are expected to commence soon. The project is a joint undertaking of Guyana, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and will be executed to the tune of $32,501,421,713.

The road works will include upgrading the existing alignment to Asphaltic Concrete Surface consisting of 2 lanes being 7.2 metres wide, approximately 121 kilometres long, and the installation of five drainage structures. In addition to the Linden to Mabura roads, several internal roads will be constructed. The Region 10 Regional Democratic Council recently awarded contracts over $100 M for the rehabilitation of community roads.

Residents of Linden have been crying out for proper roads in their communities and believe that more must be done to bring swift relieve. Communities that are in need of road rehabilitation are Block 22, Central Amelia’s Ward, Wisroc and South Amelia’s Ward.

Meanwhile Vice President Jagdeo announced that the government is awaiting the approval of an estimated $24 billion (US$120 million) from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to resurface the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

Jagdeo said the administration is hoping for the financing to be approved in June, to start rehabilitation work along the 72-kilometre-long thoroughfare.

“We are hoping that it would be approved at the Board Meeting in June of this year, so we can start reconstructing that highway before the end of the year. That is what we are hoping to do, to pave the highway from the junction all the way into Linden. The highway is in a horrible state, it is in a bad state coming up here,” Dr. Jagdeo noted.