A bridge…

… in time

We Guyanese were nurtured in a particular theory of development – starting with the Brits and continued by Burnham – that Government must build it; Government must own it; Government must operate it; Government must subsidise it – and, preferably, Government must also employ friends and relatives there!! So, when the Berbice Bridge was conceived in the mid-2000s as a public-private-partnership (PPP) Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) venture, it was something strange in Guyana – the idea that development could be financed by people other than the Treasury!!
That, of course, was before oil turned Government’s bank account into a Christmas hamper!! But the country needed infrastructure and somebody had to find the money to fund it!! The Berbice Bridge showed that there was another way – several patriotic and visionary private corporations put up capital -along with the Govt via the NIS and the bridge was constructed and operated under a long-term concession!! The investors took the commercial risk and earned returns – and now, nearly two decades later, the private shareholders have exited, the company has been liquidated, and the bridge is returned to Government ownership for G$400 million!!
A former chairman said the investors had recovered their capital, received dividends and that the company had no outstanding debts. Now if that ain’t a successful public-private experiment, your Eyewitness would like to know what folks would like one to look like!! Of course, the bridge wasn’t without controversy – the tolls generated the usual Guyanese national sport of complaining about prices – while simultaneously demanding that somebody build and maintain the thing!! There were arguments about the concession, subsidies and the financial arrangements – and that’s precisely why the experience should be studied rather than dismissed!!
The lesson ain’t that every PPP initiative – the private public venture NOT the PPP govt!! – is automatically good since a badly negotiated PPP can leave the public carrying the risks while the private partner collects the benefits!! We must therefore become much more sophisticated about contracts, risk allocation, regulation and value for money as we consider the model as being proposed with petrochemical industries at Wales using our Natural Gas!!
But the Berbice Bridge has demonstrated something important – even if Government has money in its pocket, we the people can get a piece of the action with development projects!! That lesson becomes particularly important now that we have oil money – since the object of development should be to multiply the country’s capital, as wide as possible – not just spend it!!
If private capital can finance an airport, port, bridge, industrial park, power plant, hospital or logistics facility – while Government establishes the rules and protects the public interest – why should taxpayers’ money do all the heavy lifting?

…to PPP culture
With all the complaints that our infrastructure requirements now running far ahead of what Government alone can efficiently deliver with its oil revenues – your Eyewitness thinks the PPP model deserves a serious revival! And of course – this being Guyana – there’s got to be a delicious irony!! The Berbice Bridge was conceived and executed when we were so poor, we had no choice but to experiment but today we’re rich enough to have the choice—and therefore should be experimenting even more!!
Those pioneering investors crossed something considerably larger than the Berbice River – they crossed that old Guyanese psychological barrier that if Government doesn’t pay for something from beginning to end, it somehow ain’t development!! But hey! – the private investors got their return; we got our bridge; the bridge served the country for nearly two decades and now the national asset returns home!!
Perhaps that’s the real bridge we should be building – a development culture that makes private capital work for national development!!

…to victory
By the time you read this, the Warriors would’ve had an opportunity to recover from the drubbing they received from the Antigua Falcons – and regain their pride against the Jamaica Kingsmen!!
They gotta win this for Guyana!!