The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a supplemental loan of up to $40 million to complete the rehabilitation and improvement of the road between Meerzorg-Albina, a strategic integration corridor that connects Paramaribo to the eastern border with French Guiana. Improvement of the link will facilitate transport into French Guiana and to Brazil. “The corridor accounts for nearly ten percent of the national primary network and concentrates almost 25 percent of the country’s traffic flow, so its rehabilitation is likely to have a huge positive impact on the country’s economy,” said IDB project team leader Colin Forsythe.
The project will increase access to the country’s major economic zones, boost tourism, trade and regional integration, lower transportation costs and improve road safety. Expected results of the program include a steep decline in travel time from 4.0 hours to 2.5 hours between the capital city of Paramaribo and the border city of Albina, a 15 percent reduction in traffic accidents and road fatalities and a 22 percent reduction of vehicle operating costs on the rehabilitated 140-km-long east-west integration corridor running along the coastal area.
Additionally, the three-year program will support the implementation of a management system for the maintenance of primary roads, including axle load control and the development of a national road safety strategy and action plan.
Renovation of the stretch of road between Meerzorg and Albina has been underway for a while now. Meerzorg is a village on the right bank of the Suriname River, opposite Paramaribo. The village of Albina lies at a six-hour drive eastward on the left bank of the Marowijne River, the natural border with French Guyana.
Source : http://www.devsur.com