The Linden municipality is frustrated now that a year has passed since it proposed a hike in the Wismar-Mackenzie bridge toll with no response from government, Chairman of the Linden Interim Management Committee (IMC) Orrin Gordon said.
The municipality had proposed an increase in the toll last year and had calculated for it to be implemented from September 1. The council went as far as to place a notice in the press, advising the public of the hike.
Gordon said the council had intended to watch the flow of revenue with a view to reviewing the car toll if income surpassed $1 million every month. He said cars made up 60% of the bridge traffic, but heavy duty vehicles were the reason the bridge needed monthly maintenance.
Contacted last week, Local Government Minister Norman Whittaker said the Linden municipality had no authority to increase the bridge toll. He said he had met the municipality to discuss its cash flow issue.
“I told them that they were not doing the things that we had discussed and agreed upon that will allow them to increase their revenue inflow…
“In the interim I gave permission, and the legislation allowed me to do that, for them, to temporarily transfer funds from their market account to the general account from which they pay… salaries,” he said, noting that the money was to be replaced by December 31.
“The council, instead of the things we agreed on, placed in the press a notice to the public that they were going to increase the bridge toll and I cautioned them that they had no such authority and in this regard. What we tell Linden is guided by the Demerara Mackenzie Bridge Act,” he declared.
He said the ministry does not operate “haphazardly” and he had instructed the municipality to send a proposal to the ministry so that it would be taken to cabinet. He said when the proposal was taken to cabinet, a lot of questions were asked, which he had no answers for. Therefore, he said, he had agreed to meet with Prime Minister Sam Hinds, government holding company NICIL and the IMC toward an “amicable” resolution.
But Gordon said the municipality was becoming impatient with the delay. He noted that an increase was long overdue since the last toll hike was in 1994.
“I’m getting very upset because there is serious economic anxiety and we cannot continue like this,” he said, adding that the funds were needed to finance municipal services and pay workers. He said when the minimum wage was increased, it placed pressure on the municipality to find money to pay workers.
The Linmine Secretariat, Gordon stated, had promised to help speed up the process, but later informed that nothing could be done without approval from NICIL. He added that the council had approached NICIL but to date had received no response.
He said commuters had not expressed disapproval of the proposed hike and as such councillors were becoming aggravated by the holdup and have signalled the intention to “take back the bridge.” However, they were advised to be prudent in handling the situation since the municipality could not afford to maintain the infrastructure on its own. “We have to be cautious in moving forward,” he said.
He said the IMC was reliably informed that Whittaker and the Prime Minster were meeting to discuss the problem. However, he said they were not told when the meeting would occur.
“They had a year to deal with this and we haven’t received a single response as yet,” Gordon said.
Whittaker asked that the council remind itself that the maintenance of the bridge is funded primarily by the government through the Public Works Ministry. “The Linden municipality does not fund any maintenance… and that municipality is guilty of making deductions of workers union dues and not paying it over… also deductions of the workers NIS and PAYE,” he charged.
