Even as there is excitement that the Berbice River Bridge has finally become a reality businesspersons especially in the vicinity of the stellings have complained about a drop in sales and a few workers have already been retrenched.
Stabroek News learnt that the popular Avinash store, a branch of the Ravina chain-stores located next to the New Amsterdam (NA) stelling has already sent home a few employees.
Snackette owners close to the NA stelling say they are also “running at a loss” with one man commenting that he was forced to close last weekend. He said he has to pay a rent and he was not even making enough money for that.
The man who was sitting outside his snackette during this newspaper’s visit last week commented that “right now we just helping to watchman the stelling.” He said too that when the bridge opens fully to accommodate the trucks “this place would be like ghost town; we can play cricket on the road.”
Another snackette owner described business at the stelling as “playing cricket in the jungle; we batting but we don’t know where the ball going. But life goes on – even if is one lemonade or mauby we sell we have to try.”
She said that “the bridge cripple the business at the stelling; when the small vehicles used to come in after the bridge open a lot of people used to come and buy. How much the truck-men alone can buy?”
Another snackette owner told this newspaper that at first “business was bright but now everything just slow up.” However he did not intend to give up his spot even when the bridge starts to operate fully “because I don’t know what would happen later.”
A vendor who used to “walk and sell” at the stelling said that “the bridge [almost] put me out of a job.” She said at the moment “it very hard fuh me get a sale. I used to sell $10,000 per day but now ah barely making $200.”
The woman said too that she used to go to Suriname or Georgetown two times per week to get stocks. She said she is not making any profit and I have to resort to some other means of earning a livelihood.
Some persons have also reported that there has been a drop in activity in businesses around NA while others reported that there was business as usual.
They said that a lot of persons still have to go to the town to access the banks and other services and would stop in to do shopping at the same time.
An official from one of the banks in NA said that “the bridge is not affecting the financial transactions at the bank.” He said too that it was observed that a lot of persons are interested in starting a savings account.
The owner of a hotel in NA commented that he had invested in his business with the hope of attracting persons who cross with the bridge.
However that has not materialised as the commuters coming from long distances are mostly heading to the Corentyne and back. The man said he was now thinking of opening a mini-mall in the bottom-flat of the hotel.
According to a night club owner, he too made an investment for the same reason with a standard suitable for visitors. He has also realized that his business would “suffer seriously” as local persons would not want to pay the price for the standard of his club.
The owner of a restaurant on Main Street said that while it was business as usual for him he expected more sales with the opening of the bridge. He was planning to open another eatery but he is no longer thinking along that line.
Ferry service
Two vessels, the MV Torani and the MV Makouria along with the MB Sandaka had been plying the NA to Rosignol route. At the moment only the MV Torani is operating and this newspaper learnt that it was only operating on “one engine.”
This newspaper spoke to a few truck drivers on Thursday who complained that because only one vessel was working they have to wait hours at the stellings to cross. A driver who was on his way to Georgetown had been at the NA stelling since 5 am and at around 12:30 pm he still was not able to cross.
The driver said trucks that had been waiting from the evening before were only able to get on the boat that morning. He said that at the rate the boat was moving he did not think he would make his 4 pm schedule to pick up cargo and that the place would be closed.
He had no relative in town where he could “go and bathe and eat lil food.” He would have to sleep in the truck and said “it very hard.”
Other drivers said that the boat stops working at around 9:30 pm even if there are still trucks at the stelling. They felt that is not fair and that the boat should continue working until the traffic is cleared on both sides.
This newspaper joined the ferry around 1:30 pm as the bridge was closed at the time. The gantry door was pulled up but the boat left around 2 pm. The drivers commented that that was only the third trip the ferry was making for the day.
Schoolchildren who have had to continue using the ferry service because they could not afford the high price to cross the bridge complained that they are getting to school very late.
President of the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, David Subnauth told this newspaper that the ferry used to operate from 3 am to midnight and it assisted in clearing the trucks at the stellings. He said the ferry starts working much later and he is calling for the early morning trip to start again.
Further, he said to make the bridge accessible to the schoolchildren government should introduce a “shuttle-service.” By that he meant that a 30-seater bus could go in front of the toll station to avoid paying the charges and take the children across the bridge at a cheaper fare.
He feels that the children should not be prevented from using the bridge because of the price. He said “the price is high and that the time span given for the bridge company to hand over the bridge is too long; they would make back that money long before that.”
Meanwhile, a member of the chamber in NA said that “the Ministry of Home Affairs needs to look at zoning of buses; a lot of buses crossing and there are a lot of clashes. More bus parks also need to be created to avoid confusion,” he said.
Owners of a launch that provides a service from Blairmont to NA told this newspaper that they were hardly getting passengers. The launch was contracted to work with Guysuco and the owners said that they did not plan to renew the contract after it comes to an end on March 6.
Although the launch facilitates persons from the Blairmont/Ithaca area many passengers from other areas who missed the ferry would also use the service. Now, the owners said, they prefer to use the bridge instead of taking another vehicle to Blairmont to get the launch.
Some persons were also commenting that the ferry stellings would no longer operate after the bridge is in full use but Minister of Transport Robeson Benn had told this newspaper the pontoon would continue to operate the Rosignol to New Amsterdam route six days per week.
The minister said the pontoon would also be used weekly “to resume the services in the Berbice River as a way of reviving agriculture” as farmers have long complained about the difficulties of transporting their produce from the area. The ferries would be sent to ply the Essequibo River.
