Gov’t infrastructure development agenda transforming citizens’ daily lives – Minister Edghill

Over the past five years, Guyana’s infrastructural landscape has undergone significant change, as the PPP/C government’s development agenda continues to transform communities on a scale many consider unprecedented.

Speaking on the Starting Point podcast on Wednesday, Public Works Minister Bishop Juan Edghill emphasised that the government’s achievements extend far beyond flagship projects such as the new Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge.

The real measure of progress, he said, is the impact on the daily lives of ordinary citizens, pointing to the drastic development in communities such as Crabwood Creek in Region Six.

“When the people from Crabwood Creek were able to come out of their yards and walk on a road to get to the main thoroughfares to go about their business, that is major, because some of them literally came out of the mud,” Minister Edghill stated.

He described the journey into Crabwood Creek as previously difficult.

“Traversing there used to be knee-deep mud. You had to hold your shoes up in your hands. When you get out there, you wash your feet, put on your shoes, then you go to the clinic, you go to the post office, or you go do your business,” he said. “We literally took people out of the mud.“

These kinds of improvement reflect the government’s broader commitment to ensuring infrastructural development is widespread and centred on the needs of communities nationwide, the minister affirmed.

Turning his attention to rural and urban communities across Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten, Minister Edghill explained that while modern highways are being built, ‘the real test comes’ when residents leave those highways and head to their respective homes.

“When you turn off the highway to go to your home, you need a street or a road that would not damage your car, would not cause you to be at the mechanic shop,” he said.

The minister highlighted that the ministry executed construction works in every single local authority area, resulting in more than 5,000 engagements with contractors to strengthen community roads, creating what it describes as a ‘fantastic community roads programme’.

The results are evident: improved internal roads now mean smoother travel, greater safety, and reduced maintenance costs for families, underscoring the real, tangible impact better roads have on the lives of Guyanese.

The public works minister also highlighted infrastructure works in hinterland communities, which now provide easier access to schools, health centres, ICT hubs and school feeding programme kitchens.

In many of these communities, dust pollution had previously plagued daily life and posed major health challenges, especially during the dry season. Passing ATVs, pickups and trucks often sent thick clouds of dust drifting into classrooms, clinics and kitchens.

These roads have since been upgraded from laterite to asphaltic concrete or rigid pavement. While not every road in every village has been completed, priority has been given to paving the main thoroughfares where residents gather for medical care, education and community meetings.

“So, they [the projects] might be considered small, but it is what has made a significant impact in the lives of people,” Minister Edghill said.

In 2025, $53.2 billion has been earmarked for community roads, building on the $73.2 billion spent in 2024.

Additionally, $6.4 billion was spent on hinterland roads in 2024, with $9 billion earmarked in 2025 for roads and bridges across the hinterland.

This sustained level of investment reinforces the administration’s commitment to improving connectivity, enhancing public services and ensuring that development reaches every community across Guyana.