Govt considering Public-Private Partners for Linden to Lethem Road

By Shaquille Bourne

DPI, Guyana, Thursday, June 6, 2019

The government is considering Public-Private Partnerships to finance the much-anticipated Linden to Lethem road.

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman made this announcement on Wednesday at the TOTALTEC Oilfield Service recruitment press conference.

“There are a few expressions of interest from companies. China, Brazil and elsewhere… We do have some proposals, but I don’t believe we are at the stage yet to qualifying or quantifying who would do what,” Minister Trotman informed.

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson also disclosed that the government is in receipt of some “unsolicited” expressions of interest.

He explained that “we [the government] are keeping them and we are working with them to ensure that at the end of the day, we have a package and that we have one continuous project.”

Construction of the 450km Linden to Lethem road began this year. Phase one includes building 125km of road as funding was received from the UK Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund (UKCIPF). The project aims to bridge the gap between the Coastland and the Hinterland.