The long-awaited Takutu Bridge, linking Guyana and Brazil will finally be opened on Friday. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the announcement in a brief press statement yesterday.
The Ministry said that the Bridge will be open to vehicular traffic, passengers and cargo between 8 am and 5 pm. The ferry service currently being used will not be in operation during those hours. “All persons entering and leaving Guyana by way of the Takutu River Bridge are asked to note that all processing and relevant checks will be done at the Multipurpose Complex located at Lethem”, the statement said.
There had been controversy in April when there was an informal opening of the bridge by the governor of the Brazilian state of Roraima. Several prominent Guyanese from Lethem had attended but this had not been sanctioned by Guyana.
Barrels were eventually placed on the Guyana side to thwart traffic from Brazil. Construction was completed several months ago, years after the project had started. It had encountered several snags.
In April 2007 construction resumed on the Bridge, six years after work had ceased owing to financial irregularities and after an initial start-up. In February 2005 Brazil’s President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva made a pledge in Guyana’s parliament to have the bridge completed by the end of the same year. During Lula’s visit he had said he was very aware of the importance of the bridge for Guyana and the northern states of Brazil, particularly the land-locked state of Roraima and he had indicated that he would visit Guyana for the commissioning of the bridge linking the two countries across the Takutu River.
After the financial irregularity was sorted out, the Brazilian National Congress in 2006 approved the sum of US$3 million (Rs$6 billion) to the Brazilian Ministry of Transportation to resume work on the bridge. However it was not until April 2007 that actual work on the bridge resumed.
Seaport access
Apart from the importance of the bridge for trade in goods and services, including rice and sugar with Brazil, it is widely expected that the link would provide a much needed service to, and give seaport access to the landlocked state of Roraima. The bridge and route will also facilitate tourism and travel between the two countries.
The work which was done by more than one Brazilian contractor was supervised by the engineering corps of the Brazilian army, and Secretary-General of Brazil’s Ministry of External Relations, Samuel Pinheiro Guimaraes Neto had assured on a visit to Guyana that it has built many roads and bridges in Brazil and had highly qualified people with long experience in construction on these types of projects.
The Ministry’s statement yesterday noted that the commissioning ceremony of the Bridge by President Bharrat Jagdeo and President Lula da Silva will be announced at a later date.
