… Natural Resources Minister
An asphalt road that will bridge Kwakwani (Upper Demerara-Berbice) and Orealla (East Berbice-Corentyne) will soon be constructed, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat disclosed on Monday during a visit to the indigenous community of Orealla, Region Six.
The Minister said that the Government has started securing the funds for the road project which he believes will open opportunities for the residents of Orealla. The construction of the road is likely to start early as next year.
Bharrat told Village Voice Guyana that there exists a trail between Kwakwani and Orealla but the Government will upgrade the trail to an asphalt road which would significantly benefit persons plying their trade.
Additionally, the Minister disclosed that the Government intends to make available more lands but noted that the lack of access as a result of limited or no infrastructure has to be alleviated.
“Within the next few years, we are going to focus on infrastructure and logging and mining areas which is a priority for us because our neighboring Suriname is exporting more logs than Guyana as it is now. Even though 87 per cent of Guyana is covered by forest which allows us to produce more but our problem is lack of Infrastructure,” he said.
Bharrat said that Government’s decision to ensure that the roads are developed is in part to assist loggers at Orealla to transport logs to different locations without having to suffer high overhead costs.
The Natural Resources Minister said too that work has begun on the trail from Kwakwani to Linden, Region Ten. When completed, he said the road will create a direct link from Orealla to Brazil, while adding that Government is committed to building a highway from Linden to Lethem.
“Tourism can bring in tremendous revenues into our country, there are many countries that have only tourism as a form of resource and they are doing far better than us in Guyana who have a wide variety of natural resources and can accommodate tourists with our many attraction sites,” Bharrat said while disclosing that the President of Brazil is expected in Guyana sometime in the future.
He emphasized that Orealla has lots of potential for a great tourism product and with road and water links between Guyana and Suriname, the community’s tourism product will expand.
