By Naomi Parris
Copyright guyanachronicle
says ‘strategic’ investments in infrastructure declares country’s readiness to modernise, industrialise
SIGNALLING Guyana’s ambition to assert itself as a modern, forward-looking player on the global stage, President, Dr Irfaan Ali has said that this nation is ready to claim its position in a 21st century economy.
The Head of State while addressing thousands of excited Guyanese, government officials and special invitees at the commissioning of the Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge on Sunday, noted that deliberate and strategic investments in super structures such as the new bridge will propel the country’s economy.
“Infrastructure is not merely a physical structure. Infrastructure is also a statement. It is a signal to the world that a nation is ready. And this bridge speaks loudly, declaring Guyana is ready! Ready to modernise, ready to industrialise, ready to claim its place in the 21st century world economy,” the President said.
Guyana has been pumping the revenues it has earned from its oil resources, making tangible investments in building new highways, bridges, schools and health facilities.
Aside from the newly commissioned Demerara River crossing, President Ali had announced a few days prior that construction works on a new Berbice River bridge are expected to commence this year.
In addition to a new Berbice bridge, works on the new Kurupukari Bridge could start soon, and, once completed, it will replace the pontoon crossing for the Kurupukari River along the Linden/Lethem Trail.
Additionally, the President had stated that the ongoing construction of the US$35 million Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge is just over 72 per cent complete.
The works are being executed by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited and include the construction of a four-lane, 220-metre-long precast concrete bridge outfitted with essential safety features such as lighting and sidewalks.
The bridge will replace the current structure that spans the Demerara River in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice).
In addition to the foregoing projects, several massive highways are under construction to enhance greater inter-regional linkages.
One notable road project is the expansion of the East Coast road along the railway embankment that is now 77 per cent complete.
“Oil revenues, wisely managed, are being converted into structures like this, projects that deliver benefits to every Guyanese. This bridge is proof that our resources are not squandered. They are reinvested into the future, long future of the people of our country,” President Ali said on Sunday.
During his inauguration speech back in September, he said that the first six weeks of his second term in office will see the groundwork being laid for a sweeping range of infrastructural and economic projects aimed at accelerating national development, job creation and regional integration.
He had stressed then that the country’s economic future depends not only on the ambitions and policies of the government, but also on the private sector, which is ready to drive wealth and job creation. He explained further that collaboration between the private sector and the government will propel shared prosperity.
