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Govt. exploring plans to develop secondary city on Linden Highway
Kaieteur News – In his address at the recently held Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) annual Awards Ceremony, President Irfaan Ali announced that the new administration is gauging plans for the development of a secondary city located along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway.
President Irfaan Ali
“We have initiated discussions on having a new area – a secondary city – developed. We are exploring this opportunity along the new four-lane highway because we are already seeing the pressure on the city itself,” he said.
The Head of State highlighted that as development and expansion continue, more occupation opportunities will be created on the outskirts of Georgetown and the country must be prepared for it. Consequently, the new regime, he added will be putting plans in place to ensure that such growth and development will be facilitated.
The idea for a secondary city is not new, President Ali explained, but was in the pipeline since he served as the Minister of Housing and Water years ago, when the concept of Silica City was introduced at a Building Expo.
“Now we have to think about the future, think about the floodplain, think about a natural expansion of the city, the industrialization that will take place,” Ali said.
He noted that the government is looking at an area on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway that will be connected to the new four-lane road, which will act as a catalyst for development. On a larger scale, he noted too, that the infrastructure landscape will undergo drastic changes in the coming year.
As for funding, President Ali stated that a mix of public-private partnership will be used.
“That infrastructure landscape change is linked directly to the opening up of new economic opportunities, to the opening up of new lands; creating new areas, and new growth poles. These are the things that would mark 2021 and beyond,” the President stated.
The ‘Silica City’ idea was coined back in 2013, as a housing development project targeting the Soesdyke/Linden Highway with a vision of creating a new, sustainable city catering for some 40,000 residential households.
As with any other city, Silica City was expected to offer a wide range of land uses through which services and amenities and many investment opportunities can be provided.
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