What’s all the hullabaloo about the Berbice Bridge?

Sep 07, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
I have been following the recent hullabaloo about the Berbice River Bridge and while I remained silent all the while, I have come to the realisation that I cannot stand the one sided view of some members of society.
I have followed in the news most of the comments made by President Granger, Minister Harmon, Christopher Ram and even former President Jagdeo. Many of these comments are political and I have not seen anyone make a fair assessment based on how commuters feel about the Berbice Bridge and the services they now enjoy in light of what used to happen before.
Before the establishment of the Berbice Bridge, I was a regular commuter on the ferry service across the Berbice River. And I am still a regular commuter now that the bridge is in place.
On some occasions back then, there were two ferries operating from either side of the crossing from Rosignol to New Amsterdam. But even when the two ferries were working, it was hardly a service that commuters like myself were ever satisfied with.
First of all, there was no guarantee that you would get on the very next ferry once you arrived at the stelling. But to take your car on the ferry was about $1520 for a return trip, if I recall correctly.
If you wanted to get on the ferry on the next trip, that usually meant bribing one of the gatemen at the stelling. This practice was prevalent under both the PNC and PPP/C administrations and both parties turned a blind eye to the suffering of passengers and drivers who used the ferry service on a daily basis.
Secondly, the waiting time was horrendously long and many times you had to buy food while waiting, thereby adding to the overall cost you would incur for the “crossing”.
Usually, that’s another $500 one would spend on some sort of food or snacks. For both ways, that was usually another $1000, bringing the total to $2520.
Plus you still had to pay for every passenger in the car, including the driver, and that was around $120 per person return, so that was another $600 return, bringing the total to $3100, not including the bribe to the gate men for swift processing.
For a 15-seater minibus, with all the passengers, driver and conductor, that meant paying about $3320 for the return crossing.
Now to cross with my car on the Berbice Bridge I pay $2200 return. Mini buses pay the same. There is no waiting time except when the Bridge might be open, so usually there is no need to buy food.
In a table, here’s a quick comparison:

	Berbice Bridge	Ferry Service
Minibus (15-seater)	$2200	$3320
Motor Car (5-seater)	$2200	$2120 I (no food or bribe)

The Berbice Bridge therefore in my view is a non-issue. It is only being contaminated by all the politically motivated comments surfacing. And there are those who wish to gain mileage, politically or otherwise, in this whole debate.
In these times, who will choose a ferry service when a bridge is a more than viable option?
For me, I welcome the Berbice Bridge and trust it is here to stay. Let us keep politics, envy and malice out of the Berbice Bridge, and instead let good sense prevail in all the deliberations.
Unfortunately, Guyanese have forgotten so fast the sufferings when the ferry service was in place.
Berbice Businessman