An advertisement in the Sunday Chronicle advised that pursuant to the Guyana/Brazil International Road Transport Agreement (IRTA), there are two established international bus service routes for transporting passengers between Guyana and Brazil.
Route 1 is from Lethem to Boa Vista (return) and will operate twice daily. Route 2 is from Georgetown to Boa Vista (return) and will operate once daily.
The ad said that persons wishing to transport passengers on these routes must apply to the Ministry of Home Affairs to be registered as a Transporting Firm with the Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Autho-rity. Only the buses registered will be granted permission to ply the international routes.
In addition, a transporting firm will have to secure appropriate authorization from the National Agency of Road Transportation in Brazil in order to ply the routes. The ad said that within 120 days from issuance of the original permission by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the transporting firm has to present to the Brazilian agency, a certification of the original permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs here and a public proxy instrument granting a legal representative in Guyana full powers to represent the firm in all legal and administrative acts.
The ad said that the fare structure will be determined by the Ministry of Home Affairs in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Works and the transporting firms. In addition to their Guyanese driver’s licence, drivers of the buses must possess an international driving permit as issued by the GRA’s Licence Revenue Office.
The buses that will be allowed to ply the routes must not be older than 10 years from the date of manufacture and must possess air conditioning, a seating capacity of no less than 32 seats, seatbelts for the driver and all passengers, washroom facilities, facilities to enable the transport of physically challenged persons and a tachograph which is a device fitted to a vehicle that automatically records its speed and distance.
The buses will have to undergo annual technical inspections by the Ministry of Public Works upon which certificates of vehicular inspection will be issued.
Buses will be subject to the necessary immigration and customs procedures in effect at the designated border points between Guyana and Brazil. Persons wishing to provide bus services for the transporting of passengers under the IRTA have to apply to the permanent secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and indicate which line of service they are willing to operate, the ad said.
