From September 1, 2015 the toll for passenger cars and buses crossing the Berbice River Bridge will be reduced by $300 while the toll for all other types of vehicles will be reduced by 10 percent, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan announced during his budget speech yesterday.
“I am pleased to inform this House that the lives of the citizens of Regions 5 and 6, and indeed all Guyanese who travel to the Ancient County, will be improved as a result of the implementation of the first of a phased reduction in the Berbice Bridge Toll. With effect from September 1, 2015, the toll for passenger cars and buses will be reduced from $2,200 to $1,900, a 13.6 percent decline. At the same time, the toll for all other types of vehicles will be reduced by 10 percent,” Jordan told the National Assembly which was absent of PPP parliamentarians.
Reduction of the Berbice Bridge tolls had been one of the promises made by the APNU+AFC coalition prior to the May 11 general elections.
Jordan told the House that over 150,000 Guyanese live within Regions 5 and 6 and traverse the Berbice Bridge to access education and health services, conduct business and travel on a daily basis. “Thousands more traverse the bridge annually. This Government has heard the cries of the people and will alleviate the burden of the high fares imposed on them,” he said.
The decrease in the tolls will be funded by a subvention from the government to the Berbice Bridge Company Inc which in essence means that taxpayers will be funding the decrease in tolls.
The APNU+AFC manifesto had originally said that a reduction in tolls would be negotiated with the company.
APNU+AFC’s intention to have the toll lowered had been criticised by the former PPP/C government and the private sector. They had both argued that a private company could not be coerced into reducing tolls.
