Minister Edghill inspects $160M concrete Manari bridge

– opens avenues for investment

– bridge to serve as model for other interior bridges  

Minister of Public Works, Hon. Bishop Juan Edghill has inspected the completed $160 million Manari concrete and steel bridge located Central Rupununi.

Minister Edghill told DPI he was pleased with the structure, which would now serve as a model for several other bridges to be built and rehabilitated along the Linden to Lethem route.

“There are several bridges that will have to be built along that [Linden to Lethem] trail, and to accommodate the kind of traffic, weight, you basically can say this is a model.

Some might be longer and some might be shorter. And we hope to see the same thing happening eventually in Region Seven and Region Eight, getting these bridges put in place,” he said.

With the new structure in place, the Minister said it would open avenues for commercial activities.

“What is beautiful about this, this in itself could be developed as a recreational spot, similar to what you get on the Linden Soesdyke Highway. So, this begs for an investment, an entrepreneur who will want to take the facilities now, get the necessary landscape in, 10 minutes out of Lethem you have a nice relaxing zone for R&R [rest and relaxation].

I’m happy for this infrastructure and we have to see several of these along the Linden to Lethem route,” he said.

The bridge was built by contractors H. Nauth and Sons Civil Engineering. 

Minister Edghill said the Pirara bridge located just outside Lethem would be built next. Sums were allocated for this structure in Budget 2021.