Finance Minister Winston Jordan in a statement on Monday said that there had been a move to impose a further 55% increase in the tolls for the Berbice Bridge but that this would not be countenanced by the government.
He did not name the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) but his comment was made in res-ponse to a statement which was issued by the BBCI on the new government’s attempt to have tolls reduced to commuters.
After Jordan had expressed frustration at a press conference on Friday over the length of time it was taking for the BBCI to arrive at a decision, the BBCI issued an advertisement which appeared in the last Sunday Stabroek.
On Monday, Jordan took issue with several of the points raised in the BBCI advertisement.
He said that contrary to the Company’s statement, there is no toll reduction to the Company. The Com-pany will continue to receive the full amount of the approved toll; only now, a part will be met by the Government.
Jordan said that the second inaccuracy related to a purported statement allegedly made at the meeting on August 12. According to the statement by the company, Jordan “accepted that the company would like further discussions to take place on the proposal and an extension in the concession period from 21 years to 40 years: or for the Govern-ment to give consideration to an application for an increase in toll made to the PPP/C Government on March 15, 2015.”
Contrary to that assertion, Jordan said that his record of the meeting indicates that he restated the intention of the Government to facilitate lower tolls for users of the Bridge to bring some relief to the people of Regions 5 and 6. He said that he further indicated that the Company would not suffer any loss since the Government would pay to BBCI the difference between what is now charged and the reduced charge, in effect a subsidy.
Jordan said that Ravi Ramcharitar, who led the Company’s team, which included director Bert Carter and the Company’s CEO and Finance Manager, replied that the Company was not opposed to the decision by the Government but that the announcement coincided with the need for the Company to have a toll increase. Jordan said that Ramcharitar added that an application was made to the PPP/C Government but no response was forthcoming. Jordan said that it was at that stage that Ramcharitar presented him with a copy of an incomplete copy (without the attachments referred to in the letter) of the letter of March 15, 2015.
“I responded that I was prepared to enter into a series of discussions on matters of mutual interest, beginning with the reductions announced in the Budget Speech. It was with Mr. Ram, and not with me, that the Company indicated that it would like discussions to take place on extending the Concession period from twenty-one years to forty years, or for the Government to consider its letter to the PPP/C as an application to this Government for a toll increase.
“I must acknowledge the spirit in which both meetings of August 12 were conducted. It gave hope of an expeditious conclusion of this matter. Alas, there now appears to be other forces who want to use the Government as a compensatory mechanism for a faulty investment model of the Berbice Bridge, one that seeks to impose a further 55% increase in tolls on an already suffering population. Such an unreasonable charge will not be countenanced by our Government”, Jordan stated.
He added that it is now approaching three weeks since he met with the officials of the Company on a reduction for the tolls to commuters in keeping with the APNU+AFC promise to the electorate.
“The public is being inconvenienced and I hope that the Company will move swiftly to demonstrate their commitment to achieving the objective of reducing the burden on the people of Guyana caused by prohibitively high tolls”, Jordan said.
The government had promised that the toll reduction would have been in place yesterday. From the very inception of the bridge the toll had been described as an enormous burden on consumers.
