Govt nears deal to buy Berbice Bridge – Edghill tells House

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill has revealed that there has been a “movement” in the negotiations for the Guyana Government to acquire the ownership of the Berbice River Bridge – something which he says would cost the State less than if it were to continue subsidising the bridge operation.
The Minister was at the time responding to questions by Opposition Member Saiku Andrews from the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) during the consideration of the Budget Estimates for the Public Works Ministry in the Committee of Supply on Wednesday.
“Government of Guyana is on its way to finalise all the Is and dotting all the Ts for the ownership for the Berbice River Bridge, and based on the figures that I’ve been looking at, what it will be costing the Treasury for the acquisition of the bridge would be less than if we had to pay for tolls between now and next year,” Edghill stated.
The Berbice River Bridge, a critical link between Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), was constructed between 2006 and 2008 through a public-private partnership at a cost of just over $8 billion.
The 1.57-kilometre (km) bridge was financed mainly by the state-run National Insurance Scheme (NIS) along with other private companies, which comprised the Berbice Bridge Company Incorporated (BBCI) that currently operates the structure.
At the time, Andrews was questioning the Public Works Minister about the funds allocated for the operation of the Berbice River Bridge. Under the Ministry’s capital budget, some $24 billion has been earmarked for bridges.
Edghill explained that the Berbice Bridge allocation “…will not be handed to a company. This money will be with the Ministry that will have to operate the bridge.”
In fact, he recalled the removal of tolls for the three major bridges in Guyana – the Demerara Harbour Bridge and the Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge, along with the Berbice River Bridge – last August, noting that the Government has been absorbing the operational costs, which include maintenance and payment of staff, of these bridges.
“Last year, allocations were appropriated to take care of that activity. As a result, the bridges were compensated based on monthly operational expenses in a formula that was worked out,” the Public Works Minister stated.
Even as the Government is seeking to acquire ownership of the Berbice Bridge, there are active plans underway for the construction of a new fixed high-span, four-lane bridge over the Berbice River.
In 2025, seven firms were pre-qualified from an initial pool of nine companies and were required to submit price quotations to design, build, and finance the new bridge.

Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge
Meanwhile, on the Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge, Edghill was asked by APNU’s MP, Sharma Solomon, about provisions to continue an existing arrangement with the Linden Mayor and Town Council, which received a portion of the revenues earned by the current bridge.
According to the Minister, the operation and maintenance of the Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge had to be funded by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), which also had to step in to pay staff in the past.
“Not one square metre of board or one rod of iron was ever provided by the Mayor and Town Council for this bridge,” the Minister declared – noting that this is something MP Solomon is aware of since he is a former Linden Mayor.
“What was happening is that they were getting a percentage going to the Council for social services, and all the rest of it. And if I challenged the Honourable Member to tell the House how much of that money that was given to the Mayor and Town Council was spent on social services, the answer would be zero.”
Nevertheless, Edghill added that the Government will continue to honour whatever were the obligations that NICIL was undertaking in terms of cash but noted that it would be up to NICIL to determine whether it will continue remitting the revenue to the Town Council.
But even as the Government has taken over the operational costs of the bridge in Linden since the removal of the tolls last year, it is currently undertaking the construction of a new US$35 million four-lane Mackenzie-Wismar bridge.
The 220-metre-long precast bridge is being constructed by China Railway Construction (Caribbean) Co Ltd and is currently 93.2 per cent completed, with full operations expected by June of this year.

Corentyne River Bridge
Another major bridge project that came up for scrutiny during Wednesday’s budget estimates was the Corentyne River Bridge that will link Guyana and Suriname.
MP Andrews had asked about Guyana’s contribution and ownership stake in the joint project.
In response, however, the Public Works Minister pointed out that there is no specific allocation in Budget 2026 for this project and that no issues relating to the division of ownership had been discussed during the advancement of the bridge.
“Guyana and Suriname have gone together, [and] we got consultancy for the design. We went together [and] we’ve evaluated [the bids received]. We have a preferred contractor… None of the issues that the distinguished gentleman has arose has ever been an issue that is on the table when it comes to the Corentyne River Bridge between Guyana and Suriname,” Edghill informed the House.
The high-span Corentyne River bridge will run approximately 3.1 km, connecting Moleson Creek in Guyana to South Drain in Suriname with a landing on Long Island in the Corentyne River, where a commercial hub and tourist destination will be established as a duty-free zone.
Both Guyana and Suriname have since settled on Chinese construction company China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) as the preferred contractor to build the new bridge. That contract is yet to be signed.