New four-lane highway for Essequibo Coast- President Ali announces

The Essequibo Coast main thoroughfare will be upgraded to a four-lane highway as part of the government’s ongoing infrastructure development in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali made the announcement on Wednesday while commissioning the new $447 million Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority building.

He said the highway’s design will be finalised before the end of the year to accommodate the region’s growing traffic demands.

“While in these five years we focused heavily on community roads and community infrastructure, one of the plans and programmes that we have to commence before the end of this year is the design and rebuilding of this highway into a four-year highway,” the president revealed.

Agriculture

In addition to the a new ferry service, rice farmers will receive critical support from the Ministry of Agriculture to venture into cultivation of high-value crops. This  will allow farmers to earn additional income to sustain their livelihoods, President Ali explained.

This will be complemented by the development of a modern port at Charity, opening direct trade opportunities with the Caribbean and beyond.

“We will invest in a cold freeze value chain storage for crops, for agro processing, for packaging, and of course specialised storage facilities will be part of that development to support our farmers in Essequibo and the Pomeroon,” he said.

The coconut industry in Region Two will also see expansion, along with enhancements to drainage and irrigation systems. To further reduce costs for farmers, the government is exploring the use of commercial drones for fertiliser and chemical application.

Tourism

The Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce will develop a special marketing plan to capitalise on the region’s growing tourism and hospitality sector.

This will be supported further by the second ferry that will operate the Parika to Essequibo route, President Ali disclosed.

The region will continue to benefit  from access to clean, treated water, as part of the government’s efforts to expand treated water access by 90 per cent along the coast.

Meanwhile, President Ali highlighted that the Pomeroon-Supenaam region has received an injection of over  $100 billion since 2020, across several sectors including health, education, sport and infrastructure.

Currently, a $6.6 billion modern hospital is being constructed in Lima and a state of the art stadium at Anna Regina.