The Ministry of Public Works is pushing heavily to have a contract inked for the construction and upgrading of the Linden to Mabura Hill road before the end of this year, Minister Juan Edghill announced.
Speaking during the contract awarding ceremony for road works across regions Four, Six, and Seven, at the ministry’s boardroom on Friday last, Edghill disclosed that they are working to have the list of prequalifying contractors finalised and approved.
“We are at the stage of pushing heavily to get the final process for the Linden to Mabura Hill road completed with the funding from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). We have had the prequalifying contractors evaluated and sent to the bank for final approval,” the Minister said.
He stated that once that is completed, the contractors will be invited to submit their financial proposals and once evaluated, they will move to award a contract and sign it before the end of the year.
Last December it was announced that the CDB, the United Kingdom Government and the Guyana Government have partnered to fund a US$190 million project for upgrading of 121 kilometres of road from Linden to Mabura Hill.
CDB is putting US$112 million via a loan towards the project. The approved sum for the project represents the largest project that the regional bank has financed in its 50 years of existence. The UK is providing a US$66 million grant and the Guyana government will provide US$12 million.
The road is expected to be upgraded from a fair-weather road to an all-weather asphalt concrete one and would include new drainage infrastructure with enhanced capacity to mitigate the effects of flooding.
Construction of the thoroughfare is expected to improve connectivity between Guyana’s hinterland and the coast and is the first phase of a wider plan to develop a transportation corridor from Georgetown to Lethem on the southwest border, thereby connecting the port in Georgetown with northern Brazil.
The unpaved 450-kilometre road from Linden to Lethem is often impassable during the rainy season due to flooding along its low-lying sections. It is anticipated that the upgraded road corridor will provide year-round connectivity between Linden and Mabura Hill, improving conditions for local and long-haul transport which can increase trade between Guyana and Brazil.
