Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn on Thursday met with speed boat operators from several crossings to discuss adapting their vessels to a prototype the ministry has designed to increase passenger safety.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) release Benn met operators of the Georgetown/Vreed-en-Hoop, Parika/Bartica and Parika/Supenaam crossings at the Ministry of Public Works and Communications. Officials from the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) also attended the meeting.
The operators were told of a prototype boat which is being introduced and promoted among the commercial speed boat operators. The vessel was designed to upgrade speed boat services to ensure that passengers are not affected by adverse climactic conditions.
However, the operators voiced concerns about the costs associated with incorporating the prototype boat features. In response they were assured that this was not a major issue since there are modern and costly vessels being promoted on the markets from North America. Benn told the operators that they were not expected to include all of the features only those suited to the vessels plying particular routes. GINA said the minister told the group that the features will boost their business as more passengers will opt to use this service once the new safety features have been incorporated.
According to GINA the operators are expected to include the new features. A committee was established with MARAD personnel and representatives from each crossing to discuss the adaptation mechanisms. More discussions on the process are likely to continue over the next few months. Meanwhile, Benn also highlighted the importance of making the speed boat service more competitive since there will be a major boost to ferry services at the Parika/Bartica and Parika/Adventure crossing on completion of the Berbice River Bridge. Vessels and other resources will be re-located from the Rosignol/New Amsterdam crossing to these areas. A back-up ferry service will also be put in place at the Rosignol/New Amsterdam crossing initially, but the focus will be on enhancing existing operations at other locations and introducing it to areas that have not had such a facility in recent years.
GINA said the ministry is also considering re-introducing ferry services to the Upper Berbice River as part of efforts to boost agricultural production in areas such as De Velde, Kimbia and Ebini. Discussions will be held with the agriculture ministry about the possibility of transforming transport facilities at Rosignol and New Amsterdam into packaging centres.
