Dear Editor,
The Berbice River Bridge was opened on December, 23, 2008, and it is indeed a project that all Guyanese can be proud of. It is the sixth largest bridge in the world and without a doubt it will make communication to and from Berbice so much easier and more desirable. No more waiting for hours to get the ferry, no more VIPs or persons pretending to be VIPs being given priority and/or jumping the queue!
When President Jagdeo some years ago said that there will be a Berbice river bridge, I thought that it was mere politicking and just an election statement for the citizens of Berbice. It is now a reality, but there are still some finishing things to be done. I would like to compliment President Jagdeo and his government for having the foresight and perseverance in wanting to have this bridge built. Also parallel to this, I want to compliment the investors of this bridge for investing in Guyana and hope that over the years they would be able to say that their investment and faith in Guyana was well founded.
The success of this project is important, as it can be a stimulus for other major private sector investments so that there could be other thrusts in the economy. I do hope, however, that there is a proper system in place for the fixing of the tariffs and or charges for the use of the bridge by the public, so that both the investors and the public are protected. Also that when the bridge is scheduled to be handed over nineteen years from now, that it would be properly maintained.
There is one great disappointment that I see, and I do hope that I am wrong. Believe me, I want to be wrong on this. The opening of the bridge, as expected, was covered in the media. I saw both in the newspapers and on television, persons and vehicles traversing the road. The road was made of bitumen which appeared to be very thin and from a photograph in the newspaper I would average the thickness to be below an inch.
I did not see a well-constructed road and there was no drainage at the sides. I am no expert on the construction of roads, but I am certain that this road will not last for long and will have to be properly done over. I estimate that the cost to construct the road would be over US$300,000, and if I am correct then most of this money would have been wasted. The duty to have the access roads to the bridge constructed was on the Government of Guyana, and thus if I am right and/or only half right, then it would have been a waste of the tax-payers money.
If I am wrong I would in anticipation like to extend my apologies to those persons in the government who took the decision for the construction. I am rarely wrong though!
Yours faithfully,
K.A.Juman-Yassin
Attorney-at-Law
