Pres. Ali commissions GYD 1.18 Billion Farm to Market Road in Berbice

A road which will facilitate speedy movement of crops and livestock from the backlands to the mainland along the Upper Corentyne, Berbice, Region 6 was moments ago commissioned at No. 58 Village.

The commissioning was done by President Irfaan Ali in the presence of several ministers and officials of government and state agencies.

The Farm to Mark Road was a project of the Ministry of Public Works. Its commissioning comes as the country celebrates Agriculture Month.

The opening of the road is part of a larger plan to open up more farms lands and of course part of the process is to have roads leading to those land, the Region 6 Chairman told a gathering Friday Afternoon.

Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha said the road will change lives along the upper Corentyne as Guyana pushes ahead with its lead road in Agriculture in the Caribbean Region.

The 6.4 kilometres of road costs One Billion and Eighteen Million Guyana Dollars and was budged for in 2021 and its realisation comes after many consultations, Public Works Minister Edghill noted.

He said the road has a engineering technology of three layers of fabric. At the end of the road their will be two reinforced concrete bridges and all components and materials for the construction of the  bridges have already been procured and are awaiting installation.

The bridges form part if a separate component of the entire project and that aspect of the contract was awarded at a coat of more than one hundred million dollars to Cares Engineering.

Once those bridges are constructed, access will be made for the road to go all the way to the Canje Creek and subsequently cross the Canje creek to access more lands to be opened up for farming.

In delivering his Feature Address, President Irfaan Ali said food production and agriculture is a major branch of the country’s development.

He reminded that the traditional way of doing agriculture is somewhat outdated and in order for yields and production to be increased, means that there must be transformation coupled with research and the best possible technology.

The President in a few hours will deliver the feature address at the launching of the Berbice Expo where he is expected to outline the developmental plan and agenda for Region 6.