Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi and President Irfaan Ali met on Saturday for follow-up discussions regarding the construction of a bridge over the Corentyne River and the thorny issue of financing remains to be settled.
A joint statement by Suriname and Guyana on Sunday following “strategic dialogue” between the two presidents said that both were accompanied by their respective ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Public Works, who over the past months were engaged in intensive consultations regarding the technical and financial aspects of this initiative.
The talks between the two sides were held at Soesdyke in Guyana.
The building of the bridge is geared at having a fixed connection between Paramaribo and Georgetown, which will enhance the flow of people, strengthen agricultural cooperation, facilitate trade and investment and promote tourism, thereby adding in a diversified way to the economic growth that is expected to provide sustainable prosperity to both the Surinamese and Guyanese populations, the release said.
The statement said that following this process of internal and bilateral consultations between Guyana and Suriname and the recommendations received, careful consideration was given to the proposed way forward, taking into account political, domestic and international elements as well.
Both presidents reaffirmed the importance of a fixed connection between the neighbouring countries in the broader context of South American connectivity, as part of the overall objective of regional integration and trilateral cooperation between Suriname, Guyana and Brazil, the statement noted.
Presidents Santokhi and Ali, according to the release, welcomed the expressions of satisfaction from President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, during the recently held trilateral summit in Guyana about the proposed bridge.
From a bilateral perspective, the Guyanese and Surinamese presidents acknowledged the importance of the historical and friendly relations between the peoples and governments of both countries, the statement added.
It was further recognized that at the current time, both countries stand on the verge of becoming major players in terms of energy and food security in this region.
Ali and Santokhi instructed the responsible team of ministers to enter the next stage by engaging in discussions about terms of pricing, technical aspects, financing and operational modalities with the shared objective of optimising affordability and concessional terms, the release said.
Experts from both countries will also jointly work towards a political and legal framework, start the supervisory tendering process, and drafting of the agreement regarding the ultimate board that will jointly manage the bridge.
According to the press statement, clear timelines for finalisation of these activities have been set.
“The mentioned team of three ministers on each side will continue their work to lead these negotiations and data gathering, as well as monitor the progress and report regularly to the heads of state of both governments,” the release said.
President Santokhi and President Ali agreed to convene the Strategic Dialogue and Cooperation Platform (SDCP) in early May of this year 2024 to broaden the consultations to include other pending relevant areas of strategic importance on the agenda between the two countries, it added.
Guyana and Suriname signed a memorandum for the bridge on November 24, 2020, during a visit by President Ali to Paramaribo.
In late January this year, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, told Stabroek News that a meeting between the governments of Guyana and Suriname was set to discuss the way forward regarding the financing of the proposed Corentyne River Bridge. The planned meeting came following word from the two companies that qualified for the project that they were unable to meet the pre-financing terms set out.
“We are awaiting a meeting with Suriname and will not comment before the engagement, since this is a joint project,” Edghill had said.
Suriname newspaper, de Ware Tijd (dWT), reported that on January 8, Santokhi stated that the qualified companies had disclosed that the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model proposed was not feasible, and both countries are now to look at financing.
According to dWT, Santokhi said that after the advice of the two ministers of public works, the two heads of government will decide on how to proceed with the project.
The Surinamese president explained the reason for the delay. “The initial plan was that the bridge should be built based on the PPP, Private Public Partnership, the financing of the company itself. Based on the Expressions of Interest there were 10 companies and finally we had two. Both companies had, done by writing, said that they are not any more interested in the PPP model so they are looking for financing.”
He said that while multinational agencies and private sector investors have signalled interest in financing the bridge, a decision will not be made until technical advice from the two countries are given.
“We haven’t approached but I spoke with IDB. Everyone is willing if they have the plan and the programme. That is why we need the advice first from the cluster team of ministers, [to say] ‘Two Presidents, this is the advice. You know there are two companies, they are looking for financing and these are the options [the finance options]’, so that we can decide on them,” he expressed.
“We are looking for other types of finance. There are institutions from in and outside the region that are willing to finance it… It can be company [or] it can be state,” he added.
However, of key note, Santokhi pointed out that his country would not be able to take a loan.
“In our case, we are (bound) by an IMF programme. We cannot take the loan. So you need to be very pragmatic in this,” he said.
