The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government remains committed to constructing a new four-lane, modern bridge across the Berbice River. President Dr. Irfaan Ali has criticized the Alliance For Change (AFC) for attempting to halt a project that aims to enhance the country’s transportation network and boost trade.
The Public Works Ministry has already issued a Request for Prequalification for contractors to design, build, and finance the new modern bridge. This proposed high-span, four-lane structure will replace the current floating two-lane bridge, which has been operational since 2009. However, the Alliance For Change (AFC), a minority party in the parliamentary opposition, has raised concerns about the new bridge’s financial viability and has called for a comprehensive feasibility study.
During discussions with Ministers Zulfikar Mustapha and Oneidge Walrond on a recent visit to Region Eight, President Ali reaffirmed the government’s commitment to building the new bridge. “It’s not feasibility study they want for [the new] Berbice Bridge… When we built the first Berbice Bridge, it was the same problem,” he said.
Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo also weighed in, displaying a 2004 feasibility study for the current Berbice River bridge, which he compared to a controversial study by AFC’s David Patterson for the new Demerara River bridge. According to President Ali, any major investments by the PPP/C government face opposition despite being geared towards improving lives, such as the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP), which was scrapped by the APNU/AFC Coalition regime.
“We’re doing the Wismar Bridge, the Berbice Bridge, the Demerara Bridge, we’re looking now at building the Kwakwani Bridge, and where the new bridge will go, the Corentyne River Bridge – all these are things we’re doing to expand production, improve competitiveness…”
The President also criticized the opposition, saying, “They have no plan, no vision, but every single idea they want to kill. But I’ll make sure the Berbice River bridge is done, and the commuters, very shortly, will be very happy with a series of announcements—a series of interventions we will make to make it more competitive, less costly, and more efficient. We already said Berbice will be a major industrial area.”
President Ali further emphasized that such transformative projects are being implemented across the country, unlike the opposition, which claims to support Guyana’s development but failed to deliver significant projects during its time in office. “Inherently, these hypocrites can’t help themselves. Anything developmental, they gotta stop, anything in certain regions they have to stop. They believe that any investments in these regions are political investments, and then they tried to lie to the people… It hurts that these people are now trying to reinvent themselves. They have no plan, no vision, but every idea they want to kill,” he added.
Recently, President Ali announced that the new bridge across the Berbice River would be comparable to the modern Demerara River bridge currently under construction. He noted that the new Berbice bridge would feature a futuristic design capable of connecting with significant developments in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne). The administration aims to decide on the bridge before the year ends based on the Expressions of Interest (EoIs) received. The Cabinet will also soon discuss improving competitiveness, transportation costs, and the efficiency of moving goods and services across the Berbice and Demerara bridges.
During his discussions with the ministers, President Ali reminded citizens, particularly those in Berbice, about how the APNU/AFC Coalition treated them. “The people of Region Six must ask themselves, why is it this same group of people again are trying to block a four-lane bridge across the Berbice River that will help, that will work 24 hours, improve efficiency, and that will create the opportunity for the expansion of trade, improvement of competitiveness, creation of jobs, and the build-out of what we’re going to see in Region Six?”
During a press conference, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo shared similar sentiments, defending the government’s decision to replace the floating structure with a fixed bridge across the Berbice River. “It was always our intention to do a concrete structure and replace the floating structure. So, then what sort of facility study you need really when you just have to connect two points across a river. We have to do it in any case if we want to develop Berbice too,” he said.
Jagdeo further explained that when the initial structure was built in 2008 through a public-private partnership, there were insufficient funds for a fixed structure. “[Current AFC Chairman David] Patterson said we needed a concrete structure; why we’re going with a floating structure. But we didn’t have much money at the time… and we still put together the first public-private partnership that has been a model because the people of Berbice got their bridge, and we didn’t have to spend taxpayers’ money on this… It is because of our thinking. The PPP has looked for solutions. Even when we didn’t have money then, we found a solution that delivered a bridge to the people in Berbice,” Jagdeo stated.
He continued, “They’re anti-Berbice and anti-development…and lies prolifically.”
In response to the AFC’s demands, Jagdeo drew comparisons between the feasibility study for the current Berbice River bridge, which cost US$1.1 million and comprised several volumes of documents, and the G$161 million study commissioned by Patterson, which he described as a thin document filled with photos and for which Patterson currently faces criminal charges. Jagdeo highlighted that the AFC and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), the largest party in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition, have consistently opposed developmental projects.
“The PNC and AFC were opposed to the Berbice Bridge, they were opposed to the stadium, they were opposed to the CARICOM new building, they were opposed to the convention center, they were opposed to the Hope Canal, they were to the Marriott, they were opposed to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport…they were opposed to the Amaila. Now they’re opposed to gas-to-energy, they’re opposed to highways we’re building…everything they’re opposed to,” he declared.
The current Berbice bridge, a 1.57-kilometer (0.98 miles) floating bridge, was built by Bosch Rexroth and Maybey & Johnson at a cost of US$40 million (GYD $8.2 billion). Completed in 2008, it was officially opened on December 23 of that year. The bridge operates under a 20-year concessional agreement, which will soon end, hence the government’s plans for a new bridge across the Berbice River.