On Sunday, November 15, 2026, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali formally inaugurated the long-awaited US$35 million Mackenzie-Wismar crossing spanning the Demerara River, officially renaming the 233-metre four-lane structure the Samuel Hinds River Bridge in tribute to the nation’s beloved former Prime Minister and President.
As part of a landmark dedication ceremony that brought together political leaders, family representatives, and local residents from the Linden riverbank communities, President Ali also unveiled plans to name the two access roads flanking the new bridge after two additional towering figures in Guyana’s modern political history. The approach route on the Mackenzie side will bear the name of the late Robert Corbin, long-serving former leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and ex-Deputy Prime Minister, whose brother Charles Corbin attended the event to accept the honor on behalf of the Corbin family. Corbin, who first joined the PNCR’s youth wing in the 1970s before rising to the party’s central executive committee, served as the party’s General Secretary and led the PNCR from 2002 to 2012, succeeding the late Desmond Hoyte. The Wismar-end access road, meanwhile, will be named for current Prime Minister Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips, a former Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force who joined the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) as President Ali’s running mate for the 2020 and 2025 general elections.
The newly commissioned bridge replaces a cramped 60-year-old single-lane crossing first built in 1968 to transport bauxite ore out of the Wismar-Mackenzie mining hub, a structure that over decades evolved into a critical transport artery connecting coastal communities to Guyana’s remote interior regions, including Region 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Region 9 (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo). Public Works Minister Juan Edghill emphasized at the ceremony that the new four-lane infrastructure would permanently eliminate decades of long, disruptive delays that had long stifled commerce, commuter travel, and emergency response across the Demerara River.
The namesake of the new bridge, Samuel Hinds, is a Canadian-trained chemical engineer who spent decades working in Guyana’s bauxite industry after relocating to Linden from Mahaicony. He first entered public life as a leading voice in the Guyana Action for Reform and Democracy (GUARD), a grassroots advocacy group campaigning for free and fair national elections, before being selected as the late PPCR leader Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s prime ministerial running mate. Following the PPPC’s historic 1992 election victory that ended decades of one-party rule, Hinds served as Prime Minister continuously until the party’s 2015 election defeat. He also ascended to the presidency in 2009 following the passing of President Janet Jagan, holding the office until the 2011 general election when he returned to the post of Prime Minister, and currently serves as Guyana’s Ambassador to the United States.
New Linden bridge named after former President Samuel Hinds
