80 percent of Guyana’s roads are unpaved –IDB

Apr 21, 2019 News

By Kiana Wilburg
In its latest report on infrastructural challenges facing the region, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) noted that Guyana possesses one of the sparsest road networks in South America with 3,995 km of roads serving a country of 214,920 km2. In fact, the IDB pointed out that eighty percent of the roads here are unpaved.
The report was prepared by the following consultant: Elton Bollers, Zubin Deyal, Victor Gauto, Laura Giles Álvarez, Jeetendra Khadan, Henry Mooney, Lodewijk Smets, Kimberly Waithe, Allan Wright.
It summarizes the challenges in the infrastructure sectors of The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. It also includes recommendations to overcome these challenges, along with an overview of the Public Private Partnership framework, national development plans, and ongoing initiatives.
Speaking on the transportation issues facing Guyana, the financial institution said, “The country possesses one of the sparsest road networks in South America with 3,995 km of roads serving a country of 214,920 km2… Eighty percent of roads, moreover, are unpaved. Guyana’s transportation challenges also extend to trade connectivity with the rest of the world.”
The Bank continued, “According to the 2018 edition of Doing Business, Guyana dropped in world ranking from 139 in 2016 to 142 in 2018 in terms of the ‘trading across borders’ pillar despite progressing in the index used to create the rank. On a scale from 1 to 100, Guyana advanced from 66.7 to 75 between 2006 and 2018, indicating that other countries are making faster progress on trade. Guyana’s port processes and related infrastructure requires operational modernization.”
Moreover, the Bank added, “There are currently no paved roads connecting Guyana to Brazil, and there is no bridge connecting the major coastal highways of Guyana and Suriname. Motorization is high for the size of the population, however, which causes congestion in urban areas. Increased accidents and fatalities are a major concern, but institutional capacity, legislation, planning and resources are lacking to improve road safety. Guyana’s estimated number of road deaths, 138 per 100,000 population, is higher than the Caribbean average of 82.”
Going forward, the Bank recommended the improvement of coverage and quality of road infrastructure through the definition and implementation of interventions for roads, both paved and unpaved. It said that this should be the result of an analysis of technical alternatives and economic profitability around new industries to facilitate urban growth away from the flood-prone coastal plain.
Further to this, the Bank recommended the development of a transportation corridor linking Brazil with Guyana to improve investment and stimulate economic activity along the path, which has been part of a broader study in combination with a deep-water port on the coast of Guyana.
It also called for the improving of the port infrastructure to reduce the cost of transport in and out of the country, which would complement the development of the transportation corridor with Brazil. The IDB said that this would require investments to bring Guyana’s ports up to international standards using information technology.
Finally, the Bank called for the investment in bridges to cross the country’s extensive river system.

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