Work on the Takutu Bridge on the Guyana-Brazil border is set to start on February 15 with the objective of completing the project by yearend, Brazilian Ambassador to Guyana, Arthur Meyer said.
Speaking with Stabroek News prior to the opening of the Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the Guyana-Brazil Joint Commission on Road Transportation held at the Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday, the ambassador said that the information had been relayed to him by State Secretary of the government of the State of Roraima, Sergio Pillon who took part in yesterday’s meeting.
At the meeting the Guyana delegation included Minister of Public Works and Transportation Robeson Benn, representatives of the private sector, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, immigration and customs and security personnel.
At the opening session Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee said that Guyanese are eagerly awaiting the time when the bridge across the Takutu River would be completed and when Bom Fin would be declared an international port of entry.
Rohee said further that Guyanese are also looking forward to the completion of the multi-purpose complex now under construction at Lethem to facilitate movement across the border; the road leading to the deep water harbour and the deep water harbour; and to other physical and social infrastructure and systems relevant to the integration of the two countries being in place.
As far as integration is concerned the agreement, which is integral to the bridge, Rohee said, would be the lynchpin to facilitate integration with, among others, the Caribbean through the Caricom Single Market and Economy as well as through the association of South American states.
Yesterday’s meeting, he said, was meant to address a number of outstanding issues following last year’s inaugural meeting of the joint commission to review, amend and implement the International Road Transport Agreement.
Though last year’s meeting addressed and agreed several important matters, Rohee said that because of the absence of customs, insurance and immigration representatives on the Brazilian side it was agreed that an extra-ordinary meeting be convened at the earliest date. The meeting was not held before because of a number of other commitments with several important events taking place on both sides of the border since then, including general elections.
The 15-member Brazilian delegation led by Ambassador Meyer, included representatives from the ministries of works, external relations and transportation; the national agency that deals with health surveillance, the Brazilian National Agency for Private Insurance, Internal Revenue Service of Brazil, and the Federal Police of Brazil. Also there were some representatives of the State of Roraima, including the private sector and two members of the state legislature including the state secretary of the government of Roraima, Sergio Pillon.
Meyer said that during a recent visit to Brazil the Vice Minister of Transportation assured him that the Takutu Bridge would be “inaugurated” by yearend, “a matter of great expectation for both Guyanese and Brazilians.”
He said, too, that the Brazilian government was striving to make Bom Fin a port of entry and exit in a bid to speed up bilateral trade as soon as possible.
Meyer told the Stabroek News that it was expected that all the outstanding issues pertaining to motor vehicle cross-border insurance would have been dealt with at the extra-ordinary meeting.
