With the construction of the new four-lane highway linking the West Bank Demerara (WBD) to Parika on the East Bank Essequibo, President Irfaan Ali has said that the transformation that is about to take place is “the beginning of something amazing” for Region 3 (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and the rest of Guyana.
Over the weekend, President Ali led a high-level Government team to the proposed sites for the highway and outlined his vision for the accompanying development that will take place.
“It’s exciting times for Guyana, exciting times for young people and there is enough for us as Guyanese to be proud of. There is enough worth ahead of us.
“We have to stop spending so much energy on negativity and look into the future, look into the potential, we have to embrace positive energy and move this country forward, there is no other way, we are going to build an amazing future here in Guyana,” President Ali said on Saturday.
The President highlighted that this new highway would pave the way for massive infrastructural development and also create new opportunities in the areas of agriculture, tourism, housing, and industrial and commercial development.
In fact, a team of local experts was put together to map the area for the new highway and come up with a design plan. Notably, however, the team is comprised of young Guyanese professionals.
The President encouraged Guyanese, especially the young people and those in the Diaspora, to take advantage of the opportunities that will become available.
He pointed to the importance of the local content component as well as youth involvement in the development of not only Region Three but the entire country.
”We are putting together a local team…we are bringing them together to commence the conceptual work in laying out this new highway,” the Head of State posited.
Similarly, Prime Minister Brigadier (rtd) Mark Phillips noted that the building of the highway will not only reduce the travelling time for the public, but more importantly, it will open up countless opportunities for citizens.
“Just imagine opening this area, not only in terms of a highway alone, it may appear as a standalone project, but a four-lane highway here is a driver in terms of development; you will have housing areas, you will have industrial zones, you have farming, you have areas for tourism, several other developmental projects will follow this four-lane project,” he outlined.
Meanwhile, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, who was also a part of the high-level Government team, urged young people to tap into the opportunities available.
“We put in Budget 2020 that we’re giving special incentives to plantation agriculture – corn and soybeans. So, with this kind of work that we’re doing here today, it is also an invitation for young professional Guyanese who want to invest, professional class Guyanese who want to invest [to do so],” Edghill noted.
The Public Works Minister, who had presented the PPP/C Government’s first budget in September, had announced that special incentives, inclusive of land, would be made available for planting of corn and soybean to satisfy local and regional mill demands.
As such, he reiterated that Guyana’s oil and gas industry will only be a proportionate component of the country’s economy, while emphasising the need to develop other critical sectors.
The Government is also looking to construct a four-lane, high-span fixed bridge from Nandy Park, on the East Bank of Demerara, to La Grange, WBD.
