Guyanese team in talks on highway to Brazil
Guyana Chronicle
May 11, 2007
A GUYANESE team of technical personnel from the Ministry of Public Works and Communications is in Brazil to discuss the proposed Boa Vista-Bon Fim-Lethem-Georgetown highway with officials of the Brazilian Infrastructure Agency for the State of Roraima.
Headed by Coordinator of the Work Services Group, Mr. Rickford Lowe, the Guyanese delegation includes engineer Mr. Leon Goring, also from the WSG and Technical Adviser to the Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Mr. Walter Willis, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.
GINA said completion of the bridge over the Takutu River will also engage the attention of the two sides before they all inspect the roadway, bridges along the route and other basic infrastructure in Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo).
The current visit is a follow-up to one, in March, by Brazilian officials who inspected the road to gather technical and financial details and had talks with the responsible Guyanese personnel, GINA said.
The agency said establishment of the highway would provide a transportation link that will facilitate increased trade and cultural exchanges between Guyana and Brazil and full integration with the countries of the Guianas shield, the hub of which crosses the east-west transport network connecting Venezuela with Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
GINA said the construction would allow for expanded economic activity, creating new opportunities and a positive impact on poverty.
Bilateral agreements between the governments of Guyana and Brazil have highlighted the need to improve the road link and a feasibility study was conducted in 1989, with financing support from the European Union (EU) followed by a second study in 2000, GINA said.
Earlier this year, funding was approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for another such survey that will update information for the implementation, the agency said.
It also pointed out that completion of the Takutu River bridge, on which construction was halted for more than two years, will complement the Guyana/Brazil Highway.
An agreement to finish the building has since been reached between the two governments during a visit to Guyana by Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva, GINA said.