Stabroek News
April 25, 2001

Transport and Hydraulics minister Anthony Xavier is expected to plug the merits of the Guyana-Brazil road link and raise its priority rating at a meeting of South American ministers of works in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, tomorrow and Friday.

Xavier will leave Guyana today to attend the first two-day meeting of the ministerial level Executive Steering Committee (ESC) of the Action Plan for Regional Infrastructure Integration in South America, a press release from Split Image said.

The minister will be accompanied by permanent secretary Kenneth Jordan.

The ESC at this meeting will deal with issues relating to telecommunications, energy and transport.

The Bolivia meeting follows the technical committee meeting which was held last December in Montevideo, Uruguay. The plan of action for regional infrastructure integration in South America was agreed to by the 12 South American leaders at their meeting in Brasilia on September 1, 2000, the release noted.

The ESC is expected to define the vision and strategic orientation for modernising regional infrastructure development in South America and for setting the objectives, priorities and procedures for implementation of the Action Plan approved in Brasilia.

The plan of action envisages better transportation links within South America, including road, air and marine links, as well as closer telecommunication cooperation and the possibility of energy sharing, the release stated.