Feas study for Linden-Lethem hwy expected to start shortly

Guyana's government expects work on a feasibility study for improving the Linden-Lethem highway to begin shortly, the entity said in a release. The study will be carried out by British company Mott McDonald in association with local consultancy Cemco. The contract was awarded by the public works ministry on January 16. The project is expected to boost per capita income and improve living standards due to its strategic role in expanding the market, the release said. The government is undertaking the project with technical cooperation from the Inter-American Development Bank, which is supporting improvements to the Georgetown-Lethem highway connecting the country's north and south regions and Brazil. The first phase of the technical cooperation targets the preparation of the prefeasibility study, which will present a set of alternatives to be analyzed in the feasibility studies to be carried out in the second phase. The Guyana-Brazil highway will provide full integration with the countries of the Guiana Shield since it crosses the proposed east-west transport network connecting Venezuela with Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. A feasibility study for the Linden-Lethem highway was carried out in 1989 with funding from the European Union and in 1994 the Guyanese government commissioned an environmental impact assessment. A second feasibility study was done in 2000.