Dear Editor,
I note with some alarm, the statement or rather decision of the present administration, the PPP to build another bridge across the Berbice River. I wish briefly to state as follows – First, has the location for this new spending of our money been identified and if so, where is the technical engineering study to justify the location of this billion dollar project? Second, are we drifting into the silly season related to the existing Berbice River Bridge? As such, I publicly challenge the Government to deny or comment on any of the following:
A detailed study was done for the building of a bridge across the Berbice River, when I was Minister. The report should be in the archives of the Ministry of Works. That report recommended that the bridge be built from Ithaca, West Bank Berbice River to a point between Rotterdam and Stanleytown, on the East Bank of the Berbice River. The study revealed that the Berbice River was narrower at that point and the river was generally calm. The soil on both banks of the river were firmer and suitable for this type of construction. When the site of the present bridge was identified during the PPP regime, it was pointed out that the cost to build the bridge, north of the recommended location, would be substantially more that the Ithaca, Stanleytown, Rotterdam location. If I recall, it almost doubled the cost. It is for that reason, that international financial agencies, the World Bank, etc. refused to fund the bridge at its present location, which deemed it irresponsible and financially a waste.
The PPP Government then with typical stubbornness entered into an agreement with a private company and took money from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and others to fund the bridge. In passing, this contributed to the failure of the NIS to satisfy its obligation to workers as intended by architects of the NIS under the Burnham administration. Those of us who know the history and demographics of Ithaca and Stanleytown – Rotterdam, need not go too far to get the reason for shifting the bridge at a greater cost to its present location. Editor, I ask that you seek lucid answers, truthful answers (if possible), when next the Government functionary talks about a new Berbice River Bridge. I’ve heard while in East Berbice, government functionaries claimed that the decision to locate the bridge where it is now, was not political and that it had nothing to do with improving the livelihood of people at Ithaca and the people of Stanleytown-Rotterdam. I await a response from a Government that lays claims to transparency and talks about ‘One Guyana.’
Before Independence, the insignia on our public buildings was that of the garter, a maxim in the Anglo-Norman language, a dialect of old Norman French spoken by the mediaeval ruling class in England. ‘Honi Soit Qui mal pense – the modern translation meaning ‘evil be to him who evil thinks.’
Sincerely,
Hamilton Green
Elder
