Tourism and Commerce Minister Manniram Prashad has urged the management committee overseeing the upgrading of the Number 63 beach to complete the project in time to coincide with the completion of the Berbice River Bridge.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release, the structure is being built at a cost of about US$36M and is expected to be in operation by early September. It is hoped that the beach’s tourism potential will be realised on completion of the bridge. “I see immediately after the completion of the bridge, 2,000 to 3,000 persons coming into Berbice. We cannot wait until this bridge is open; we have to resuscitate the committee and get all the stakeholders involved,” Prashad said. The minister said too “this is a golden opportunity for this committee to take off with what we had in place and develop with what we have now.”
According to GINA, the ministry will play an advisory role on the committee while the region’s private sector is expected to lead the project. Adrian Anamayah of the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce (CCCC) is expected to chair the committee with representatives drawn from the Number 62-72 Overseer Chairman’s Office, the Good Hope Number 51 National Democratic Council, the Number 51 Police Station, the Sea Defence Board, the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, the ministry and the Regional Chairman’s Office.