EPILOGUE:

An Assessment of Needs, Challenges and Opportunities

The fundamental objective of this Compendium is to provide a basis for using selected material for the formulation of a Strategic National Transportation Policy. The Compendium represents the accumulated technical judgements of persons who have studied various sections of the transportation sector in Guyana over the last 37 years. Some of the studies disagree on details, but the main areas on which there are no disputes have been outlined in the Review and Summary.

It is appropriate, at this stage, to examine briefly what cognizance has been taken of such areas of agreement through which, it is believed, a National Transportation Policy would be formulated. Without examining the circumstances, which may have militated against the limited implementation of recommended policies it should, nevertheless, be observed that the influence of the transportation sector on the national economy and quality of life may not have been adequately evaluated.

With regard to Roads and Bridges, there has been little cumulative achievement. Improvement in some areas has been countered by deterioration in others. Although much expenditure has been applied to rehabilitation during the last few years some major projects remain incomplete. Administration has been generally weak and policies on design and maintenance are not always clearly evident.

However, the efforts to build a road link from Georgetown to Lethem, and the activities of entrepreneurs in mining and forest products in the interior, must be commended and this is an encouraging development. Otherwise, limited activity was recorded in transportation development in the remoter regions of the country.

Efforts at research must be bolstered and policies on design, which may be used in forecasting costs of projects, must emerge. Local contractors have not significantly improved their experience and consequently may not be adequately equipped for construction or maintenance projects. There is urgent need to staff the Central Transport Planning Unit for it to play an effective role in the sector. The need for Legislation considered necessary for economy and efficiency in the sector remains. The development of a Strategic National Transportation Policy would require a full review of the Roads and Bridges sector.

In the Waterways and Ports sectors, the Guyana-Suriname Ferry has been established and after the necessary administrative procedures are completed will be inaugurated. The other Ro-Ro ferry service between Rosignol and New Amsterdam, which was recommended, may encounter some difficulty in implementation if Government’s intentions to bridge the Berbice River are realised. It would require some re-planning of approaches to New Amsterdam and to the township of Rosignol. The bridging of the Berbice Rivers is a new concept and has not been covered within the 37 years period reviewed by this Compendium.

Progress is being made towards the establishment of a Port Authority and there is a Proposed Master Plan for the Transport and Harbours Department.

While the proposed Airports Authority is not yet a reality, a commendable start has been made in improvements recommended within the proposed Master Plan for Airports at Timehri and Ogle.

The Transport Sector of the National Development Strategy has included the proposed implementation of the major recommendations of recent studies within the period 1996 to 2001. However, rapid progress must await the adumbration of policies and the requisite budgetary provisions in a phased development plan.

In considering the preparatory framework necessary for a Strategic National Transportation Policy the adequacy of skills, at all levels, required to give effect to such planning must be considered. This factor relates closely to the success or failure in implementing such a policy. The overriding factor in any phased Development Plan still remains, as has always been the case in Guyana, the adequacy of skills at all levels.

There needs to be an accompanying development plan for education in and provision of technical and other skills to obviate undue dependence on external consultants and contractors. It is well known that such dependence has consequences for sustainability.

If this issue is not realistically addressed, then the planned improvements, be they in infrastructure or in administration, would not only be extremely expensive but Guyana may find it difficult to maintain with due diligence, those facilities provided by loans from external agencies. Burdensome loans could in turn accentuate the call for further debt relief in the years to come, thereby defeating the purpose of a development strategy.

A human resources survey followed by a plan for education and training at all levels should be the hub on which a Strategic National Transportation Policy should revolve.