Home News Corentyne River Bridge: Guyana is ready; awaits confirmation of Suriname’s financing –...
The Government of Guyana has reaffirmed its readiness to fund its share of the much-anticipated Corentyne River Bridge thus signalling its commitment to advancing this transformative joint project with its Surinamese neighbours.
The progress, however, hinges on Suriname’s ability to secure its portion of the financing, as both nations prepare to share the costs and reap the benefits of the project. The Corentyne River Bridge, designed to link the two countries more effectively, is expected to bolster regional trade, ease transportation, and pave the way for significant economic development.
Speaking on the matter, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo emphasized that with a contractor already selected by both Guyana and Suriname and multiple discussions held with financiers, the government is now awaiting Suriname’s final confirmation to secure financing.
“We are at a stage now, where parties can come to the table and say that we can come up with our share of the money. We’re prepared to make that commitment now and we can raise our share of the resources swiftly and once the other side can do that then the project will move fast,” Dr Jagdeo told media at his weekly press conference on Thursday.
The Corentyne River Bridge, which would connect Moleson Creek in Guyana with South Drain in Suriname, would be approximately 3.1 kilometres in length and would have a landing on Long Island in the Corentyne River, where a commercial hub and tourist destination would be established. That duty-free zone would see major infrastructural development: such as hotels, recreational parks, entertainment spots, tourist attractions, malls, and farmers’ markets.
According to VP Jagdeo, upon completion, the bridge would not only link these two neighbouring countries but would also open up access to greater economic opportunities beyond them: into French Guiana, through the road network being developed, into Brazil and eventually further into South America.
“We have already done a lot of groundwork on this, so we can raise our share of the project swiftly. This is a joint project with Suriname and we’re going to share the cost because the benefits will be shared by both countries. We will get a ton of our exports into Suriname and if we do our deep water harbour I think we’ll be able to capitalize and repay this loan with great ease… the benefits will also be great for Suriname, for its industrialization and development purposes. I think both countries recognize that it’s a good project. We have working on this for a while, it took longer than anticipated because they had to go through several iterations of contractors and going back and forth because it’s a joint project,” he added.
The Corentyne River Bridge is one of the first projects agreed on between Presidents Ali and Santokhi. These Heads of State had previously underscored the critical role the bridge would play in advancing cooperation and creating more opportunities for development for both countries.
A contract worth US$2 million was signed in Paramaribo, in May of 2022, for several preliminary studies and research to be conducted on the Corentyne bridge by WSP Caribbean. The Expressions of Interest were also simultaneously launched.
WSP Caribbean presented the design of the Corentyne River Bridge to Public Works Minister Juan Edghill and his Surinamese counterpart, Minister Riad Nurmohamed, in June 2023. It entailed a two-section structure that is connected via an island (Long Island) to link Guyana and Suriname. The design also featured a two-lane bridge with accommodation for a third lane in case of an emergency.
A visit to the Corentyne River in South Drain, Suriname back in 2021
Six international companies – five Chinese firms and one Dutch company from The Netherlands – had submitted bids for the construction of the Corentyne River Bridge. The bids were opened at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) in Georgetown back in August 2023.
Initially, the plan was to have the bridge built according to a design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) model, meaning that whichever company is contracted to build the bridge would be responsible for its design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance. The bridge was also to have been constructed via a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.
In October 2023, two companies – Dutch engineering company Ballast Nedam and Chinese-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) – submitted proposals to build the bridge over the Corentyne River to link Guyana and Suriname. However, those companies have since indicated that they are unable to meet the pre-financing requirement.
In an interview with Guyana Times on the sidelines of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government Conference, held in Georgetown earlier this year, President Santokhi had said there are financial institutions that are willing to fund the construction of the bridge. He said informal discussions had been held with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which had indicated an interest in financing the project.
