Contract signing for new Wismar Bridge; sod turning for New Amsterdam Hospital this week – Pres Ali

Ahead of the presentation of the 2024 National Budget, a fiscal plan described by President Irfaan Ali to be people-centered and people-driven, the government is looking to set into motion major projects promised last year.

In an address to the nation Tuesday night, Dr. Ali said the contract for the new Wismar Bridge in Linden, Region 10 will be signed later this week.

The Head of State dubbed it “a major public investment” for the mining town and the region by extension, in the statement broadcast live from his Facebook page.

A new four-lane, concrete bridge is to be constructed across the Demerara River at Wismar.

Previously, the cost for the bridge was touted at US$35 million and the government was engaging the Chinese joint venture – China Railway Construction Corporation Limited.

That company is also constructing the new $260 million crossing over the Demerara River to bridge Regions Three and Four.

Last year, the Government of Guyana and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia inked two loan agreements for infrastructural projects valued at US$150 million.

Those funds will be spent largely on expanding the local housing programme in three regions but will also allow for critical upgrades to the Wismar Bridge in Linden, Region 10.

Also, Dr. Ali promised on Tuesday that there will be the turning of the sod for the new hospital at New Amsterdam, Berbice in Region Six.

“This will be a state-of-the-art facility, a major facility in Region Six and before the end of this week we will be turning the sod,” Dr. Ali said as he wrapped his first working day for the year.

The US$161 million contract for the hospital was signed in September 2023.

The existing hospital is the most advanced in Region Six and it is the biggest hospital in Guyana after the Georgetown Public Hospital, which is the country’s main referral hospital.