Guyana using $80M to pave jungle highway link to Brazil
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana has secured nearly $80 million to pave a portion of a 350-mile (560-kilometer) jungle highway that is expected to increase trade with neighboring Brazil.
Infrastructure Minister David Patterson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the grant from Britain will cover a 70-mile (115-kilometer) portion and include a $10 million bridge across the western Essequibo River. Vehicles currently cross the river via a pontoon during a 12-hour journey that is expected to drop to two hours.
The money is part of a $379 million grant that Britain pledged in 2015 to help improve infrastructure in the Caribbean.
Brazil has long been pushing for paving of the entire highway to give its northernmost border states a route through Guyana to the Caribbean and Central and North America.
