By Marcelle Thomas
There will be no tolls for crossing at the country’s three main bridges – the new Demerara River Bridge, the new Berbice River Bridge, and the new Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge, Upper Demerara River – when they are completed, President Irfaan Ali last evening announced.
He also said that government is in talks to acquire the current Berbice Bridge in hopes of removing those tolls long before the new one is constructed.
With the New Demerara Harbour Bridge scheduled to be completed next year, Ali said that if government doesn’t seal a deal to buy the Berbice Bridge by that date, the PPP/C will ensure that the tolls are removed.
“On the completion of the New Demerara Bridge, crossing at the Bridge will be free of cost. For those who are arguing about mathematics you don’t need a formula. The mathematical model is pure and simple… the toll for crossing will be free of cost,” Ali announced at the opening of the new Crane-to-Schoonord Highway in Region Three.
Prefacing the disclosure, the President said that he had “big announcements” for the country and to silence his critics.
When he was finished announcing toll-free crossing for the Demerara Harbour Bridge, he said that announcements were for “every corner” of the country. He continued: “We believe in parity. We are in the process of discussing with the Berbice River Bridge (company), the possible acquisition of that bridge by the government, because this is a request of a possibility that came to us. Once this occurs, and if it does not occur by the time we make this bridge toll free, the Berbice River Bridge crossing will also be free of cost. If the negotiations are not completed by the time the Demerara River Bridge becomes toll free, the Berbice bridge will at the same time become toll free.”
“So for those who have a problem… you have a bigger problem now… and the Wismar bridge will also be free of cost. We are bridging the hearts of Guyanese and we are doing it free of cost,” he added.
The President did not go into detail about how it plans to subsidise the tolls to allow for the free crossing.
For the Demerara and Berbice bridges, Ali had the more than 1,000 attendees repeat after him that the bridges will be toll free and then publicly express their gratitude to his government.
“Just to let them hear it properly, I want you to repeat it for me…We ain’t done yet. Repeat after me – ‘Thank. You. PPP/C,’” he urged as the audience repeated it in unison, followed by bellowing cheers.
The President noted that yesterday’s announcements were the plans he had been alluding to over the recent weeks.
On Wednesday, at the signing of the US$161 million contract for the reconstruction of the more than half-century-old Linden/ Soesdyke Highway, Ali said that the two-year project is aimed at not only fixing the road and installing 2,900 street lights along the way, but it ties in with the broad-based future planning to also create jobs.
“This investment is part of a wider menu of investments that is aimed at the transformation of our country, the opening up of opportunities, the rebuilding and the expansion of the economy, and the integration of different regions within our country,” he had said.
According to Ali, the project is “not guess work,” but “careful articulation” as many factors are taken into consideration to boost capacity and create a multi-faceted investment portfolio.
Integral
“This highway is integral not only for the connectivity between regions Four and Ten, but it is important because it is one of the main arteries that supports the development in the hinterland communities and wider afield. But more importantly, this highway will be linked to other key and critical infrastructure that would expand the productive capacity and land availability and open up new areas for a multi-faceted investment portfolio,” he said.
And on Tuesday, following concerns raised by the AFC about the feasibility of the Berbice Bridge and other areas, he said they were against process at a time when his government has explained that a fixed span bridge was needed to accommodate continuous river and overhead traffic to complement development plans in the region.
Yesterday, he referred to plans previously hinted at. “Remember we had said that we are evaluating ways in which to improve the competitiveness and productivity, to reduce the burden on the private sector, farmers… improve competitiveness and reduce the cost to the consumers?” he asked, before responding to the nods and shouts of yes, explaining that the announcements were part of a slew of measures currently being devised.
On the opening of the Schoonord-to-Crane Highway, he said that it was a subset of the overall increased accessibility around the country by land, pointing out that one adjustment to add another exit was highlighted and will be done by Sunday. He disclosed that during the testing of the roadway, the police advised that “there should be one more slip lane on the Crane roundabout that would further help traffic flow. It will allow for the smooth transition of the traffic.”
The road project which was signed in September, 2022, for just over $11.8 billion had been awarded to eight contractors via the national procurement process. The winning contractors were VR Construction Inc, Avinash Contracting & Scrap Metal Inc, L’Heureuse Construction and Services Inc, GuyAmerica Construction Inc, AJM Enterprise, Vals Construction, Puran Bros Disposal Inc, and JS Guyana Inc.
Ali said that the private sector was “investing billions in this region” and the infrastructure build out by government was aimed at encouraging investment. He noted that four years ago, people were abandoning their lands in Region Three and today with the PPP/C development blueprint, those land values were skyrocketing. As such he urged citizens, “Don’t sell your lands!”
“The value creation that you see in this region, that didn’t happen by accident, it happened by a carefully articulated vision that outlined various strategies as to what the development trajectory will be. It outlined where the new areas of growth will be,” Ali added.
He informed that the Crane and Schoonord Highway interlink is the first phase of roads that will go to Parika and further afield, and it was why government plans on opening “thousands of acres of land for agriculture and housing.”
He said that work on a Sand Hills alignment has begun and when completed will “come out at Falmouth opposite Bartica, Region Seven…so we will have regions Three, Four, Ten, all integrated and heading into Bartica and further into the mining communities,” he said.
“The … interlink that we are talking about is to position Guyana as a major transport and logistics hub. It is to expand the crops in agriculture. This region will be the fastest growing region because we are investing in Wales, 30,000 house lots. This is the type of transformation. The scale is enormous and is done with a careful plan,” the President added.
