Berbice Bridge goes to court to reverse Govt.’s control

Nov 30, 2018 News

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Government’s control of the Berbice Bridge Company is heading for a courtroom showdown.
The Berbice Bridge Company Incorporated (BBCI) has gone to court asking for a decision to reverse the decision of Government to take control of the facility.
According to the company yesterday, on Wednesday it served notice on Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, and the Attorney General on November 28, 2018, that legal proceedings has commenced in the High Court of the Supreme Court of Judicature.
The application for the hearing, an oral one, on December 5, is asking for an order directing the minister to provide to the company, within 14 days, a statement outlining the decision for the Government to take over the maintenance and operation of the Berbice River Bridge.
The company, in released court documents said that November 1, 2018, Minister Patterson caused to be issued and advertised in the Official Gazette the Berbice River Bridge (Public Safety) Toll Order 2018 No. 42 of 2018, made under section 11(b)(i) of the Berbice River Bridge Act Cap 51:06 ordering that the functions of the concessionaire, namely the claimant, to maintain and operate the Bridge shall be exercised by the Government.
The Official Gazette also said that the first named defendant having determined that the exercise of those functions by the Government is necessary and expedient in the interests of the public during the period 5th November, 2018, to the date, the Minister specifies by notice on the cessation of the threat to public safety.
It also said that the tolls will be levied and collected and any exemptions shall be the same as those levied, collected and exempted immediately before the coming into operation of the said order.
According to the bridge company, by a Concession Agreement dated June 12, 2006, entered into between the Ministry of Public Works and Communications, on behalf of the Government of Guyana and the company, it is made clear that the “Concessionaire” (BBCI) shall be obliged at its own expense to operate and maintain the Toll Bridge…” The company said that Berbice River Bridge Act also provides that it has the right to specify different toll amounts in relation to the use of the bridge by reference to such circumstances or combination of circumstances as the Concessionaire may, after consultation with the Minister, determine.
The bridge company argued that in a public statement on July 10, 2018, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Suresh Persaud, announced that a toll adjustment was an essential requirement to ensure that it can continue to execute its mandate.
In fact, it had applied to the Government for an adjustment on three occasions- March 2015, August 2015 and January 2016, but had received no replies and further that the claimant has now accumulated a loss of $2.8B and now faces bankruptcy.
The Chairman said that discussions with the minister had not achieved any success in achieving any adjustment to the tolls and it was then announced by the Chairman that such adjustment would take place.
On October 11, the bridge company announced increased upwards of 365 percent.
In the court documents, the bridge company acknowledged that a function exercisable by the BBCI may be exercised by the Government if the Minister determines that its exercise is necessary or expedient in the interests of public safety.”
On November 2018, the minister advertised in the Official Gazette the Berbice River Bridge (Public Safety) Toll Order 2018 No. 42 of 2018, ordering that the functions of the BBCI to maintain and operate the Bridge shall be exercised by the Government.
According to the court papers, an increase in tolls by the claimant is not a threat to public safety.
The bridge company said it wrote the minister on November 6 asking for details that would have helped those findings were based and giving the reasons for the decision.
The bridge company noted that Section 15 of the Judicial Review Act provides as follows: “It is the duty of any person or body making administrative decisions, if requested in accordance with this section by any person adversely affected by the decision, to supply that person with a statement setting out the findings on material questions of facts, referring to the evidence or other material on which those findings were based and giving the reasons for the decision.”
The bridge company was launched in the latter half of the 2000s by the Bharrat Jagdeo administration helping to reduce traffic woes from the sloth of the ferry service across the river.
What Guyana did not know was the financial structure of the company allowed a few of Jagdeo’s friends to take control of the bridge just investing a few millions.
This was despite the fact that the majority of money came from the state and the National Insurance Scheme.

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