Waterfront properties now valuable- Edghill

Every sector of the country is expanding and with the booming oil and gas industry, waterfront properties on the east and west sides of the Demerara River are now valuable.

“What we call empty lots right now will basically become bonds…Every piece of waterfront property is now valuable on both the east and the west side of the Demerara River,” Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, said on Tuesday night as he addressed business people at an event held at the Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown.

In fact, because of the importance, Edghill said the owners of these properties are now seeking riparian rights.

“People are now arguing [that] they lived there all the while, never went through those bushes to the waterside but they now have lawyers defending them for riparian rights because of how important it is,” he said.

Additionally, Edghill noted that when he took office in 2020 as the minister with responsibility of maritime affairs, about five vessels used to dock at port Georgetown every week.

But now, on a weekly basis, up to 45 to 50 vessels now use the port.

And, according to Edghill, the new Demerara Harbour Bridge will make provisions to handle Handymax type vessels.

“That is now driving up to move in the direction of increasing the draft in the Demerara channel, we have already widened it, we now need to deepen it to ensure that we get bigger ships in with greater tonnage,” he noted.

As the oil and gas sector continues to grow, there has been a high demand for waterfront properties to meet the demands of the operation of the sector. Lands are earmarked and structures are still being built to accommodate these facilities.