To ask boat owners to pay a fee for a non-service is ludicrous

Mar 30, 2012 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
I refer to KN article of March 28, 2012 captioned, “Berbice Bridge Company takes over riverway…Vessels forced to pay to pass under”, and would like to suggest that the Company must stop charging fees to river users, unless the Berbice Bridge Company shows proof that it has a transport or a title document issued through the Deeds Registry.
A transport or title establishes property rights, the means by which individuals establish ownership over assets, be it land, a house, or a car, among other assets. The process of using property rights has long been established in Guyana, with enforcement provisions provided through the Courts. Property rights encourage investment, as a title or transport to land or a house can be used in financial markets to raise capital. Without property rights that are enforceable through the Courts, there would be chaos, hindering innovation, bequests and economic progress.
Typically, the high span on all bridges worldwide is built with the understanding that traffic in the river would move unimpeded and no fee is charged to boat owners for use of the river under the bridge. The rationale for the high span is to have continuous and uninterrupted traffic simultaneously on the bridge and in the river. However, limiting the time for crossing to only when there is a bridge retraction is an infringement on the boat owners’ right to make an honest living; moreover, to ask boat owners to pay a fee for a non-service is ludicrous. In fact, the Bridge Company should compensate boat owners, as they are the obstruction in river commerce that has been in operation for many decades, long before the Bridge Company arrived.
Only in Guyana can we have such conflicting circumstances, where a private company that is squatting on public property (the river) imposes a fee on the public and it would appear that the relevant Government Agencies that manage natural resources have nothing to say or suggest. However, if Guyanese hold the view that the Berbice Bridge Company is an agent of the Government of Guyana, then this discourse would be pointless, as the Government holds in trust, on behalf of the Guyanese people, the title to all public lands and natural resources of Guyana.
As such, the Government of Guyana working through its agent, the Berbice Bridge Company, can charge fees for use of public property as they do for the use of natural resources such as fees for forest products, or royalties for minerals.
Alternatively, if the Berbice Bridge Company is not an agent of the Government of Guyana who holds in trust on behalf of the Guyanese people the title to all public lands and natural resources of Guyana, then we have a serious problem in Guyana. In fact, this would be is a serious breach of property rights in Guyana and it must be stopped, for the Berbice Bridge Company does not speak on behalf of the people of Guyana.
C. Kenrick Hunte

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