By INEWS
Rubbishing claims that the idea to construct the Ogle-Eccles highway was first birthed between 2015 to 2020 under the then APNU/AFC Administration, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, revealed documents that proved it was conceptualised more than two decades ago.
Dr Jagdeo showed the document to the media during his weekly press conference at Freedom House on Thursday.
“A lot what you see now, we have been planning for a long time to get them done,” the General Secretary explained.
He pointed out that this bypass road has always been part of a vision to create a secondary road link that leads to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. This plan was first outlined in Guyana’s National Development Strategy, revised and published in 2000.
Pointing to the comprehensive study document, Dr Jagdeo said, “We have been looking at an alternative approach to Georgetown…you would see the alignment here mapped out in this study in 2003…twenty-two years ago,” he noted.
He argued that the opposition had no original plans and were “bereft of ideas”.
He said that this position, when it comes to nation-building, will never lead to positive outcomes for the country.
“APNU has been putting our programmes into AI with a command to rewrite…it’s just old, worn stuff that we have spoken about for a long time in the past, and this is the poverty in policymaking in the opposition,” Dr Jagdeo noted.
“A country can only develop if its policymakers have a long-term vision for the country, and they accomplish it by matching the resources they have to ensure they don’t damage public finances,” he continued.
On Monday, His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali commissioned the US$133.8 million, describing it as a new corridor of opportunity.
What was once sugarcane fields has now been transformed into a 11.8 kilometres of asphaltic road, stretching from Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) to Haags Bosch on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD).
While it provides commuters with a faster, safer alternative route and significantly eases traffic congestion, the president said the real impact goes well beyond travel time. The corridor will facilitate the rollout of tens of thousands of new housing lots.
Already, five new hospitals, six internationally branded hotels, and major private investments, including over US$500 million worth of new projects, are directly tied to the development of this highway, the president revealed.