Kuru Kururu to have Silica City built

Guyana’s Junior Housing and Water Minister, Susan Rodrigues on Wednesday, following a visit to Kuru- Kururu on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, said that the construction of Silica City will commence soon.

The minister disclosed that the construction works will see phase one of the city being developed on a 3,000- acre plot of land.

“We are starting to do the land clearing for the first 185 acres, which will feature the Innovation Village and the first 400 Young Professional homes,” Rodrigues said.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) has already begun shortlisting persons to have them pre-qualified for the Young Professional houses to be built there.

It was noted that while some persons are residing on the lands or have farms there, through legal leases from the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, the process of relocation is currently being addressed.

“We will have some people that have to be relocated, but of course we will engage them and ensure that they are properly compensated so we can clear this first phase area for Silica City,” the minister said.

Rodrigues noted that the new city is the brainchild of President Irfaan Ali when he was the Housing and Water Minister.

Further, he said that it will be the first modern smart city. The idea was based on the need for Guyana to have an urban centre that is complementary to the existing capital city of Georgetown.

As such, the new city aims to tackle the issue of non-coastal urban settlement development and the challenges of climate change and sea-level rise. Additionally, it will be a vibrant, sustainable, resilient, and modern city, in keeping with the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).