(Guyana Graphic December 2, 1968)
Work on the $17 million dollar Atkinson-Mackenzie highway was begun on August 6, 1966 under contract with B B McCormick and Sons,.
It was the largest single contract ever signed by a Government of Guyana.
The opening of the highway on Saturday December 7, 1968 will bring the mining town of Mackenzie within two hours drive of the capital of Georgetown.
The highway passes through some 20,000 acres of agricultural land and will help hasten further social and economic advance in the area and the country as a whole.
Financed primarily by a $15 million “soft” loan from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) the highway is planned to link eventually with other roads leading to Lethem, Ituni Kwakwani and Rockstone.
Feasibility studies of roads from Mackenzie to Rockstone, Ituni and Kwakwani have been financed by the USAID.
