In light of the delay by the Berbice Bridge Company to effect the necessary changes to the tolls, the Ministry of the Presidency today said on its Facebook page that Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson has presented a memorandum to Cabinet proposing the implementation of a water taxi service between the West and East Bank of Berbice.
This service would be primarily to assist school children and the elderly. Meanwhile the Finance Ministry will continue to engage Bridge company to ensure that the toll is reduced in accordance with the provisions of the 2015 budget, the post said.
Patterson had recently told Stabroek News that the Alliance For Change, which is a key member of the governing coalition, would press for the reintroduction of a ferry service across the river.
The Minister had told this newspaper that he would not be able to give a time frame nor could he say whether a ferry service would be reintroduced until the cost of stelling rehabilitation was looked at. He emphasised that across Guyana the decay of wharves and stellings was well known and funding would need to be prioritised. The ministry has budgeted for 2015 $370M for the reconditioning of the MB Sandaka as well as the MV Barima and MV Kimbia. However under the capital expenditure for the year, there were no provisions made from the $50M budgeted to repair the Berbice River stelling at Rosignol, West Berbice or at New Amsterdam.
Patterson acknowledged that the party had been very staunch in its earlier calls for the reintroduction of the service which would especially benefit school children, but stated that now in government there were numerous factors that needed to be looked into on a more in-depth basis prior to any commitments being made for the remainder of the year.
