GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The Trinidad-based company, NAMALCO, and the locally-based Guyamerica Construction Inc, Wednesday signed the US$161 million contract for the reconstruction of the new Soesdyke-Linden Highway that the government says will include several features aimed at improving road safety.
Representatives of the Trinidad-headquartered NAMALCO and GuyAmerica construction sign the US$161 million contract for the reconstruction of the new Soesdyke-Linden HighwayPublic 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 the reconstruction of all major bridges that would include pedestrian bridges, parking lanes for trucks, high quality reflective road markings, emergency stop bays and rest areas as well as improved drainage.
“When you are driving and your light gets to the markings on the road and on 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 dig up and the new foundation would allow for heavier traffic.
“The construction will have to cater for the new level of 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 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=US$0.04 cents).
He said the project would open up access to large swathes of land, the creation of an industrial hub in Linden, and more cargo when the Guyana-Brazil road is constructed.
