8th IRF-CRC launched – Public-Private Partnerships a major focal point
― IRF Caribbean Regional Committee formed
DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Ministers from across the Caribbean and the neighbouring country of Suriname attended the launch of the 8th International Road Federation (IRF) Caribbean Regional Congress (CRC) held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
The IRF-CRC focuses on the designing of road strategies that will prepare the Caribbean for the 21st century infrastructure and mobility challenges.
This year’s meeting focuses on several key aspects; Road Sector Leadership, Sustainable pavements design and management, Weather-resilient infrastructure, Diagnosing road safety risk, Mainstreaming road safety into road design and management, and lastly Innovative road procurement and Public-Private Partnerships.
The event was attended by a number of senior representatives from Guyana’s Ministry of Public Infrastructure, inclusive of Minister David Patterson, as well as his Regional Counterparts from Jamaica, Barbados and Suriname.
In his opening remarks, Minister Patterson elaborated on the importance of the Congress to Guyana, at this time.
“The IRF’s partnership with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure to host this the 8th edition of the Caribbean Regional Congress under the theme “Modernising the Region’s Roads for future Generations” comes at a critical point of the economic and social transformation that is unfolding in Guyana. Today, we can proudly declare that we have moved beyond the stage of conceptualisation to development and implementation of projects that will not only shape the landscape of our country but integrate our populace through infrastructural access.”
The Congress is especially critical for Guyana, as the country is preparing to usher in ‘first oil’ in 2020 following the recent discoveries of offshore oil and gas resources, which will see the need for robust and improved onshore infrastructure.
It was based on this and other factors that the minister highlighted the target areas for the ministry’s five-year infrastructural development plan.
“In this regard, our Ministry of Public Infrastructure has embarked on its infrastructural development plan which sets the stage for the next five years, populated by improved roads, bridges, overpasses, ports and stellings. From the Rupununi to Orealla, Linden and Corentyne, Paramakatoi and Port Kaituma, our plan includes construction and rehabilitation of key roadways and links, bridges, port developments and shore development works.”
Following the launch, in a ministerial meeting to discuss the topics for the Congress, a proposal was made by Minister Patterson to have technocrat members chosen as country representatives, as a means to ensure that the solutions and potential policies put forward can have sustained life.
“So, what happens is that if someone outside of our mandate doesn’t take the lead, and pushes it and pushes it quickly, what you’ll find is that at the ninth regional conference you see five different faces, and you start the whole ball over, the whole process, over, and that has been the whole issue with several of these great initiatives.”
With this in mind, Chairman of the meeting, Eric Dean Cook, tasked the ministers present with nominating representatives for their respective country to be a long-serving member of the committee.
The Congress runs until Friday and will feature a number of networking opportunities and panel discussions for persons and businesses in the infrastructure industry.
Nikosi Bruce.
Images: Marceano Narine.