Govt nears deal to buy Berbice Bridge – Edghill

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill has revealed that there has been a “movement” in the negotiations for the Guyana Government to acquire the ownership of the Berbice River Bridge – something which he says would cost the State less than if it were to continue subsidising the bridge operation.

The Minister was at the time responding to questions by Opposition Member Saiku Andrews from the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) during the consideration of the Budget Estimates for the Public Works Ministry in the Committee of Supply on Wednesday.

“Government of Guyana is on its way to finalise all the Is and dotting all the Ts for the ownership for the Berbice River Bridge, and based on the figures that I’ve been looking at, what it will be costing the treasury for the acquisition of the bridge would be less than if we had to pay for tolls between now and next year,” Edghill stated.

The Berbice River Bridge, a critical link between Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), was constructed between 2006 and 2008 through a public-private partnership at a cost of just over $8 billion.

The 1.57-kilometre (km) bridge was financed mainly by the state-run National Insurance Scheme (NIS) along with other private companies, which comprised the Berbice Bridge Company Incorporated (BBCI) that currently operates the structure.

At the time, Andrews was questioning the Public Works Minister about the funds allocated for the operation of the Berbice River Bridge. Under the Ministry’s capital budget, some $24 billion has been earmarked for bridges.

Edghill explained that the Berbice Bridge allocation “…will not be handed to a company. This money will be with the Ministry that will have to operate the bridge.”

In fact, he recalled the removal of tolls for the three major bridges in Guyana – the Demerara Harbour Bridge and the Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge, along with the Berbice River Bridge – last August, noting that the Government has been absorbing the operational costs, which include maintenance and payment of staff, of these bridges.

“Last year, allocations were appropriated to take care of that activity. As a result, the bridges were compensated based on monthly operational expenses in a formula that was worked out,” the Public Works Minister stated.

Even as the government is seeking to acquire ownership of the Berbice Bridge, there are active plans underway for the construction of a new fixed high-span, four-lane bridge over the Berbice River.