TIME FOR THE BIG BUSES TO ROLL ACROSS THE BERBICE RIVER BRIDGE

Jul 08, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Once the Berbice River Bridge was constructed there were bound to be problems involving the movement of school children. For decades, school children have used the ferry crossing to go to and from school. Hundreds of children mainly from West Berbice use the service to go to and from the top schools in New Amsterdam.
The construction of the Berbice River Bridge has not solved the transportation woes of the residents of Berbice. It has not because the Bridge is a private bridge, in which the government and other state agencies such as the NIS have shares. It is run and administered as a commercial venture and therefore it has to show returns for its investors.
It was therefore never going to be cheap to use that bridge. Many persons still are not aware that the Berbice River Bridge is owned by a private consortium and therefore all the placards about reducing the toll will not go anywhere, because the government has minimal say in those matters. The toll structure was set before the bridge was opened and there is simply not enough traffic flowing to allow for a reduction of the tolls.
The Demerara Harbour Bridge is, on the other hand, a government-owned bridge, and therefore can offer subsidized fares. The government, in fact, foots much of the expenses of maintaining this bridge and so the toll is affordable.
It can be safely said that the Berbice River Bridge has failed to deliver the anticipated economic benefits to the people of Berbice, because of the high tolls charged. But reducing the toll will be unacceptable to the private investors, and continuing to run the cross-river ferry service is not a sustainable option, because this service provided by the Transport and Harbours Department is also heavily subsidized, so that the low fares charged to cross the river by ferry or pontoon do not resemble an economic cost of the service provided.
At the said time, the government should appreciate the problems that the high tolls to cross the bridge are having on parents. Most of these parents are working class individuals who want the best for their children. Many of them are proud that their children can be able to go to the better schools across the river. These parents are therefore willing to make the sacrifices to help their children. They wake up early, prepare their breakfast and lunch kit, and send them off to school via the ferry or pontoon, except that now that service is far more irregular and a launch is now being advertised.
Crossing the Berbice River from Rosignol is not, however, like crossing the Demerara River from Vreed-en-Hoop. That is a straight line trip. To go from Rosignol to New Amsterdam requires moving downstream, and this takes time. For school children, it is not ideal to do this in small launches. It is not even ideal from Blairmont.
At the same time, parents have to understand that the Transport and Harbours Department is not going to make a profit from transporting schoolchildren, even if they double the fare. That is an arrangement that cannot be sustained any longer.
The solution, therefore, has to be to establish a top class high school on the eastern side of the river, so that instead of all those children having to cross the river, they can stay on their side of the river and get a quality education. The other solution, which is far more practical, is to make the bridge tolls more affordable so that parents can afford to send their children across the bridge. But that is not going to happen if the bridge continues to be privately owned, and given the relationship between the government and the private investors, the government is not going to buy out the private shareholders in the bridge. This will also send a bad signal to private investors.
As such, what should happen is that the government should estimate the total number of school children who are required to travel daily across the river, and purchase some big buses that would provide a free shuttle service, until such time as a top-class high school can be built in West Berbice, and therefore avoid this daily hassle that students face. It is also costly for parents.
The private transportation operators should not cry foul, because no business will be taken away from them. Only registered students who normally use the ferry should be granted non-transferable passes, and the buses can take off from the D’Edward side, thereby not taking income out of the private minibuses.
The shuttle should be from D’Edward, across the bridge. The first stop should be Berbice High School; second stop New Amsterdam Mulilateral School and third stop at Berbice Educational Institute. On the return leg, the bus should end its leg at D’Edward, meaning that the children will have to make their way home from there. In this way, business is not taken away from the minibus operators and short drop cars.
It is something that the government should consider immediately. It will take a few months to order these big buses and have them placed on the road, but in the meantime, some private buses can be hired to make the shuttle. It will be far cheaper than trying to force the return of the Sandaka or the Torani.

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