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Berbice River Bridge commendable; access road waste of money

Dec 30, 2008 Letters

Dear Editor,
The Berbice River Bridge was opened on the 23rd December, 2008 and it is indeed a project that all Guyanese can be proud of.
It is the sixth largest bridge in the world, and without a doubt it will make communication to and from Berbice so much easier and desirable. No more waiting for hours to get the ferry, no more VIP’s or persons pretending to be VIP’S being given priority and jumping the queue!
When President Jagdeo some years ago said that there will be a Berbice River Bridge, I thought that it was mere politicking and just an election statement for the citizens of Berbice. It is now a reality, but there are still some finishing things to be done.
I would like to compliment President Jagdeo and his government for having the foresight and perseverance in wanting to have this bridge built. Also parallel to this, I want to compliment the investors of this bridge for investing in Guyana, and hope that over the years they would be able to say that their investment and faith in Guyana were well founded.
The success of this project is important as it can be a stimulus for other major private sector investments so that there could be other thrusts in the economy. I do hope, however, that there is a proper system in place for the fixing of the tariffs and charges for the use of the bridge by the public so that both the investors and the public are protected, and also when the bridge is scheduled to be handed over 19 years from now that it would be properly maintained.
There is one great disappointment that I see and I do hope that I am wrong. Believe me, I want to be wrong on this. The opening of the bridge, as expected, was covered in the media. I saw both in the newspapers and television persons and vehicles traversing the road. The road was made of bitumen which appeared to be very thin, and from a photograph in the newspaper I would average the thickness to be below an inch. I did not see a well constructed road and there was no drainage at the sides. I am no expert on the construction of roads but I am certain that this road will not last long and will have to be properly done over. I estimate that the cost to construct the road had been over US$300,000, and if I am correct then most of this money would have been wasted. The obligation to have the access roads to the bridge constructed was on the Government of Guyana, and thus if I am right, then it would have been a waste of the tax-payers’ money.
If I am wrong I would in anticipation like to extend my apologies to those persons in the Government who took the decision for the construction. I am rarely wrong though!
K. A. Juman-Yassin
Attorney-at-Law

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