GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC—The Trinidad-based company NAMALCO and the locally based Guyamerica Construction Inc. on Wednesday signed the US$161 million contract for the reconstruction of the new Soesdyke-Linden Highway, which the government says will include several features aimed at improving road safety.
Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said the 72-kilometre project, the first to be funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), would include 2900 street lights along the entire highway.
Edghill said the project would also include reconstructing all significant bridges, including pedestrian bridges, truck parking lanes, high-quality reflective road markings, emergency stop bays, rest areas, and improved drainage.
“When you are driving, and your light gets to the markings on the road and the signs, it will be bright to help you to navigate,” Edghill said, noting that the existing Soesdyke-Linden Highway, which was built from 1966 to 1968, would be dug up and the new foundation would allow for heavier traffic.
“The construction will have to cater for the new tonnage that is coming through the highways now,” he said.
President Irfaan Ali told the ceremony that construction would last two years, and while there would be an unavoidable inconvenience, he is encouraging Guyanese to take advantage of 300 jobs, including drivers, whose salaries would be about GUY$200,000 (One Guyana dollar = 0.04 cents).
He said the project would open up access to large swathes of land, create an industrial hub in Linden, and increase cargo when the Guyana-Brazil road is constructed.
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