INTRODUCTION
The Ministry of Public works and Communications of Guyana and the Department of Transport of Canada have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which provides for technical assistance from the latter in the development of a Strategic National Transportation Policy as its principal priority.
It is recognised that grave weaknesses in Guyana’s national transportation system constitute a severe impediment to the country’s economic growth and competitiveness and that a Strategic National Transportation Policy will provide Guyana with the infrastructural adequacy within the transportation sector to serve its national interests and development goals.
There have been many studies, dating back some fifty years, related to the various modes of transportation. It is thought desirable that prior to the start of the collaboration with the Department of Transport of Canada, a foundation should be laid by preparing summaries of the significant studies and analyses conducted over the period 1960 to the present date. Such summaries would provide a ready reference of information, including findings, statistics, conclusions and recommendations by consultants and investigators over the years. A critical appraisal of such work would then be facilitated in the preparation of a National Transportation Policy.
The Consultant’s Terms of Reference and Scope of Work are indicated on Appendix I. The United Nations Development Programme is the sponsor of this programme.
A list was made of all the Government departments, Corporations, bilateral and multilateral agencies which were involved in any meaningful way in examination of the transportation sector in Guyana. These included several Government Ministries as well as private investors. In each case, individuals were identified for interview and access to the information required was sought.
A list of all studies and analyses was prepared with notes on the authorship, sponsorship and sources from which the reports were available. The studies and analyses were grouped into various categories of transportation mode as follows:
The list of identifiable reports and studies relating to transport projects from 1960 to the present date totalled eighty-six. While it was expected that some of them might not be entirely relevant to the formulation of a National Transportation Policy, this could not be established until they were all critically reviewed. As a result of this exercise the total number of studies and analyses was reduced.
The essential qualification for inclusion in the final list was that a study or analysis should have examined in a critical and objective manner some mode of transport, in particular reference to conditions in Guyana, with recommendations for change or further investigation. With this in view a policy for omissions was determined based on the following guidelines:
The final list was still very substantial and the principal sources of information proved to be the Central Transport Planning Unit of the Ministry of Public Works and Communications, the library of the United Nations Development Programme, and the Inter American Development Bank.
The reports selected for the final list were then individually reviewed and summarised with recommendations and conclusions in accordance with the Terms of Reference.
The major difficulty experienced was in the actual location of reports. Very few of the Embassies, High Commissions or Consulates were able to help because the relevant reports were no longer available in their local offices and even at headquarters they would be difficulty to locate. Recourse had to be made to private libraries in come cases.
The Ministry of Finance possesses an impressive collection of records and papers which would be expected to provide a useful source of information but their library, reportedly, has been without a librarian for some six years and no one was available to locate records considered appropriate for this exercise. Alternative sources of information had to be investigated.
Because of the recent fire which destroyed part of the offices of the Ministry of Public Works and Communications there was practically no recorded information available from the Engineering sections of that Ministry in respect of Roads and Bridges.
Location of records was generally a time consuming task and it was only in the case of the best organised records viz. UNDP, CTPU and IDB was it possible to access them readily.
Each study or analysis, which has been included in the Compendium, has its own major conclusions and recommendations, which have been recorded. However, it would not be appropriate to list them all here. In the course of this review it has been observed that there is some outstanding deficiency in each of the transportation modes examined which has given rise to a recommendation. The crafters of a Strategic National Transportation Policy would, no doubt, wish to take note of such broad recommendations in respect of each mode of transport. They are as follows:-
Policies affecting the routing, construction and maintenance of roads and bridges should be co-ordinated by one Ministry or Department which should be a general co-ordinator of all transport modes in Guyana.
Funds for maintenance should be obtainable from road user taxes and should form the basis of future planning.
Consideration should be given to changing traffic from left to right if connection with the rest of the South American continent is seriously contemplated.
Larger interior road projects cannot be found to be economically feasible by orthodox methods of analysis because quantifiable benefits are difficult to forecast. Construction of such roads should be partly guided by political will.
Establishment of a Port Authority is necessary.
A uniform berthing line for Port Georgetown should be established as part of development plan for the Port of Georgetown.
Dredging should be conducted to improve the channel capacities for incoming vessels in Georgetown. Implementation of a Master Plan for development should be tackled in stages.
An Airport Authority should be established.
Ogle airstrip should be developed for domestic traffic.
Both airports should be the subject of a Master Plan.
Many of the studies prepared subsequent to 1975 have made reference to the Draft Transport Plan for Guyana, prepared by the Central Transport Planning Unit in 1975, as being a good indicator of development strategy in the transportation sector.
Private investors such as Omai Gold Mines Ltd, Mazda - Mekdeci, Barama Co Ltd and Demerara Timbers Ltd have all planned and undertaken minor road projects, which could be of significance in the formulation of a National Transportation Policy. Their internal systems are connected with some major interior roads and would certainly improve the road transportation network in the interior.
Interviews were held with some of the principals of these private investment companies and their plans were inspected. They constitute a tangible contribution to transportation infrastructure in the interior and certainly suggest that these entrepreneurs could have involvement in the National Strategy for Transportation. Because the studies, which gave birth to these plans, have not been recorded as feasibility studies and have not been granted such status, they cannot be included in the Compendium in the same manner as the other reports and analyses. There are other ideas such as the bridging of the Berbice River and the ring road proposals of Ming’s Products & Services Ltd in the area between the Demerara and Essequibo Rivers, but these have not yet been fully documented. While they may yet blossom into implementable programmes they are ideas for active consideration and do not qualify for inclusion in the Compendium.
P.A.D. Allsopp
Consultant
February 1998