Social activist Mark Benschop was arrested at Blairmont yesterday for obstruction of traffic and was subsequently released on his own recognizance.
He later told this newspaper that he had been charged and would appear in court tomorrow. In addition, the police at Blairmont while they allowed Benschop to go, impounded his vehicle.
Benschop, while at the station, called the charge “a directive from above” insisting that he broke no law. He was detained while travelling back to the city for what he described as his non-refusal to pay an exorbitant fee to cross the Berbice Bridge.
But reports are that Benschop left his vehicle parked in an area close to the bridge where there is a flow of vehicular traffic. This was reportedly after he refused to pay the toll and subsequently boarded another vehicle.
The toll at the Berbice River Bridge is still an issue for commuters who have said that there seems to be no proper system in place for categorizing vehicles so as to decide what the rightful charge should be.
At its opening on December 23 the structure was hailed as a motor for investment in the Ancient County and the end to crippling travel woes for commuters. However, just days after the bridge’s opening many commuters said they found the toll too steep and opted to continue using the Rosignol/New Amsterdam Ferry.
Benschop, founder and chairman of the charitable Mark Benschop Foundation, told Stabroek News that he arrived at the bridge’s toll booth some time between 8.30 and 8.45 yesterday morning he was informed that the toll for his vehicle was $7,000. However, Benschop said, the price list at the booth identified the toll for a vehicle such as his as $4,000.
“I decided to use the ferry instead since it was specified that only trucks would be allowed to continue using the service… the description on my vehicle’s registration clearly states that it is a pick-up truck but I was denied entry to the ferry,” Benschop explained.
Benschop then decided to return to the bridge and was subsequently told that the toll was $13,600.
“I couldn’t understand how this was so because only minutes before the booth attendant had said that the cost to cross was $7,000,” Benschop said.
Further, the man explained that he remained in his position at the toll booth for two and half hours before finally paying $4,000 to cross the bridge. During that time, Benschop said, he was told by the booth attendant that vehicles like his own were charged based on their weight.
However, the man explained that there is no scale at the Berbice River Bridge and it is “unfair” and “improper” for bridge authorities to simply estimate the weight of a vehicle if indeed it is charged based on that.
In an invited comment yesterday Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Berbice River Bridge Incorporated, Omadat Samaroo, explained that a vehicle like the one driven by Benschop fell under the “Goods Vehicle” group and was therefore charged based on its weight.
Samaroo explained that vehicles in this group were charged under three categories. Goods vehicle under 1,000 kilogramme (kg) are charged $4,000; those weighing from 1,001kg to 2,000kg are charged $7,600 and vehicles weighing 2,001kg to 3,000kg are charged $13,600.
The “unladen weight” of such vehicles, the CEO explained, should be printed on but failing this the vehicle’s registration will contain its weight. Further, he said that the standard weight of many models of goods-transporting vehicles was known.
According to Samaroo, many citizens drive goods transporting vehicles as a “luxury item” and are only realizing the grouping of such vehicles when faced with the toll. In the first instance when Benschop would have been charged $7,000, the CEO explained, he would have been undercharged due to human error.
Benschop told this newspaper that his vehicle’s registration states its weight as more than 4,000kg.
With regard to Benschop having held up the line at the toll booth, Samaroo said the situation could have been managed in a “better manner” so as to avoid hampering the bridge’s efficiency.
