Contract for reconstruction of Soesdyke-Linden Highway to be signed soon – Pres. Ali

Aug 12, 2024 News

Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali on Thursday evening announced that the US$161M contract to upgrade the Soesdyke – Linden highway will soon be signed between the government and the contractors.

The President made the announcement during his address at the opening ceremony of the International Building Exposition 2024. He was at the time speaking of the road link between Guyana and neighbouring Brazil that his government intends to establish.

“We had a dream of driving on the beautiful highway from Timehri all the way to Brazil, no longer a dream. We will soon go to sign a contract for the new Linden to Soesdyke Highway. We started the new highway from Linden to Mabura Hill, we have started the Wismar Bridge and we are working on advancing work, so we will continue the highway all the way to Lethem and we have almost completed the building of the bridges along the Linden to Lethem highway,” the Head of State told attendees.

This publication reported previously that Namalco Construction Services (from Trinidad & Tobago) in joint venture with Guyamerica Construction Inc. (from Guyana) was awarded the contract to upgrade the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) published on its website that on June 26, 2024 Namalco and Guyamerica were awarded the US$161,369,374 contract.

Kaieteur News reported that the joint venture companies were among four bidders vying for the contract when it was opened in January 2024 at NPTAB. The project was estimated to cost US$183,567,095 according to the Ministry of Public Works’ engineer’s figure.

The upgrade to the Soesdyke-Linden Highway is being funded by a loan from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).

This publication reported that in May 2023, the Government of Guyana and the Islamic Development Bank, signed a US$200M Framework Agreement for the reconstruction of the highway. The project will see the rehabilitation and reconstruction of 73 kilometres of the highway, with two lanes undivided, nine bridges, and six culverts with improved design, quality and standards.

The project also includes ancillary works and road corridor improvements providing essential public administration support, improved connectivity with communities, roadside and other facilities.

The Soesdyke-Linden Highway is a 73 kilometres-long, two-lane highway that runs between Soesdyke and Linden in Guyana. The East Bank Public Road connects Soesdyke with Georgetown.

In October last year, the NPTAB had awarded a contract to Kuwaiti firm, Al-Habshi Engineering Consultants in joint venture with Guyanese company – CB& Associates Inc. to provide supervision services for the project. The contract cost is US$ 1,775,000.

It was highlighted before that the importance of rolling out this project was that the highway is in dire need of repairs. While the Government has spent millions repairing the roadway due to exhaustive use, it has returned to a dilapidated state in most sections.

Picture: highway road
Caption: The Soesdyke – Linden Highway.