Former Minister of Infrastructure and Member of Parliament (MP) David Patterson is adamant that the public should not be “fooled or misled” by the posturing and utterances of the PPP regime on the recent contract signing to commence the construction of the Linden to Mabura Road.
Patterson in a Letter to the Editor of the daily newspapers reminded readers, “In 2015, in an effort to reconnect with its former colonies, who they felt were moving more towards China for their infrastructural needs, the UK government offered seven Caribbean countries a grant of 300M sterling to execute landmark projects (United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund (UKCIF) | Caribbean Development Bank. Guyana’s portion of that grant amounted to 55M sterling.”
Patterson stated, “The Linden – Mabura Road was selected as the most viable project. Feasibility and design works commenced in 2016, while several rounds of consultation were held with communities in region 8, 9 and 10. Final designs were completed in 2019 and the loan agreement was signed in 2020.”
He said of note is that “…in 2019, the PPP, informed the UKCIF team, that the Linden-Mabura Road project was not a priority project for their party, and if they were successful in the upcoming elections, they will cancel this project. The response by the UK was unequivocal – cancel this project and we will cancel our funding.”
MP Patterson advises that “No doubt, the usual suspects will be loud in praise for the current administration for making this project “a reality”. Likewise, the government will strut their stuff and claim full credit for this project. However, this is far from the truth!”
“The indisputable facts are that today’s signing is a result of the vision of the previous administration coupled with the support of the UK government and of course the Government’s good sense to follow through with a great project that will benefit all Guyanese,” the MP reiterated.
More, In The Ring.
