New housing areas, jobs promised as Mocha/Diamond interlink road opens

Joined by housing officials, President Irfaan Ali at the break of dawn on Monday opened the Mocha to Diamond interlink road along the East Bank of Demerara, promising the development of new housing areas and thousands of jobs along the corridor.

With a total investment of $5 billion, the road which was started while the President served as Housing Minister prior to 2015, continued when Dr. Ali was elected Head of State in August 2020; he immediately instructed that aggressive work commence to complete the road.

Dr. Ali said while it was a proud moment for him and his government to deliver on an election promise there was much work still to be done. He noted his disappointment with the delayed completion of several other roads in the Diamond communities; that includes an access bridge intended to eliminate bottlenecks.

But also commissioned and will be used for the first time from Monday is the Mocha access bridge.

The road, although a small part of a bigger vision to construct a link from Diamond to Mandela in Georgetown is expected to offer significant relief to thousands of commuters who traverse the East Bank corridor on a daily basis.

“When we left office the foundation for the road was completed. For five years nothing happened and we came back and completed the project,” Dr. Ali said even as he announced upgrades to the newly completed road.

Having observed the usage of the road by residents for exercise, Dr. Ali said he has commenced talks with contractors to expand the road and create a safe jogging path.

Already two of three promised police outposts along the road have been constructed with plans to soon connect cameras to those outposts.

The road will also be inaccessible to large vehicles such as trucks.

Looking to the future, Dr. Ali said not only will the road allow for the safe opening of new housing schemes but with commercial interest in the area it is slated to provide thousands of jobs to residents nearby and citizens in general.

“This is a reservoir for job creation… it is a stop gap for what is coming,” Dr. Ali said even as he urged caution and care when using the road.

The next link to the road is currently under construction and is expected to be completed next year with a $16B investment.

Also starting next year will be the link from Eccles on the East Bank to Ogle on the East Coast.

Also addressing the brief opening ceremony were Housing and Water Ministers Colin Croal and Susan Rodrigues.

The project was undertaken by the Housing and Water Ministry and was completed months ago.
Commuters began using the road but a fatal accident resulted in the road being blocked from vehicular traffic until the official opening.