Integrating with neighbours…
Guyana building multi-purpose complex at Brazil border crossing
Guyana Chronicle
January 17, 2007
THE Government of Guyana is spending about $38M to construct a multi-purpose complex, at the Lethem river crossing in Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo), to improve communication with southern neighbour, Brazil.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) said the project is being undertaken by the Ministry of Public Works and Communications to facilitate the movement of people between the two countries.
When completed, it would provide accommodation for agencies such as Immigration, Customs, Police, Health and a checkpoint for those going over the border.
The construction started last November and is scheduled for completion within seven months, GINA said.
According to GINA, an initial contract was signed last August but there was some disagreement, among the parties to be housed at the location, on the design and a new drawing was subsequently approved by all of them, paving the way for the work to begin.
GINA said the expenditure is one of the government’s initiatives to boost economic development through the integration of Guyana with its South American neighbours and is intended to increase national income, improve living standards, expand markets and heighten competitiveness of Guyanese products.
President Bharrat Jagdeo, on September 28, 2006, outlined the administration’s plan to accelerate development, over the next five years, through integrated linkages that include the Guyana/Brazil highway, GINA said.
In this regard, the agency said, the government has been supportive of the completion of the Takutu River bridge, started several years ago but later stalled, that is being funded by the Brazilian Government.
Additionally, the government is committed to constructing the Bon Fin/Lethem/Georgetown highway, for which a feasibility study is expected to be done this year, with assistance from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
The government is expending $200M to repair and upgrade sections of the Linden to Lethem roadway and bridges along the route, works that began last year following release of the funds, GINA reported.
GINA said these projects are also in keeping with the administration’s vision for infrastructural development through which many highways, roads and bridges have been constructed or upgraded to enhance transportation and communication countrywide.
Some of the major ones, finished over the past five years, include construction of the East Bank Demerara four-lane road, rehabilitation of that from Georgetown to Rosignol and construction of two heavy-duty bridges at Mahaica and Mahaicony, GINA stated.
GINA said the government is pursuing construction of a bridge across the Berbice River to link Regions Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) and create easier access for transportation between Guyana and Suriname.