“I’ll make sure the Berbice River bridge is done” – Pres Ali rebuffs criticisms on project

…AFC “anti-Berbice, anti-development” – VP

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government is steadfast with its plans to build a new four-lane modern bridge across the Berbice River as President Dr Irfaan Ali calls out the Alliance For Change (AFC) for wanting to kill a project that would enhance the transportation network as well as improve trade in the country.
The Public Works Ministry has already issued a Request for Prequalification for contractors to design, build and finance the new modern bridge across the Berbice River. It will be a high-span, four-lane structure that would replace the current floating two-lane bridge that has been in operation since 2009.
However, the Alliance For Change (AFC) – the minority party in the parliamentary opposition – has questioned the financial viability of the new bridge, calling for a comprehensive feasibility study to be done.
In discussions with Ministers Zulfikar Mustapha and Oneidge Walrond on Tuesday during a recent visit to Region Eight, President Ali maintained this new bridge will be built.
“It’s not feasibility study they want for [the new] Berbice Bridge… When we built the first Berbice Bridge was the same problem,” he posited.

According to the Head of State, any major investments that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government undertakes, the Opposition tries to undermine them even though these initiatives are geared towards enhancing lives such as the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) that was scrapped by the APNU/AFC Coalition regime.
“We’re doing the Wismar Bridge, the Berbice Bridge, the Demerara Bridge, we’re looking now at building the Kwakwani Bridge and where the new bridge will go, the Corentyne River Bridge – all these are things we’re doing to expand production, improve competitiveness…”
No plan, no vision
“They have no plan, no vision but every single idea they want to kill. But I’ll make sure the Berbice River bridge is done, and the commuters, very shortly, will be very happy with a series of announcements – a series of interventions we will make to make it more competitive, less costly, more efficient and we already said Berbice will be a major industrial area,” the president noted.
The Guyanese leader went onto say that this type of transformation is being rolled out in various regions across the country, unlike the opposition which claims to be supportive of Guyana’s development but failed to deliver any major projects during their tenure in office.
“Inherently, these hypocrites can’t help themselves. Anything developmental, they gotta stop, anything in certain regions they have to stop.

They believe that any investments in these regions is political investment and then they tried to lie to the people… It hurts that these people are now trying to reinvent themselves. They have no plan, no vision but every single idea they want to kill,” he noted.
Only last weekend, President Ali declared that the new bridge across the Berbice River will be on par with the modern structure of the new Demerara River bridge currently being built.
According to the Head of State, the new Berbice bridge will have the futuristic design, capable of interconnecting with the massive developments taking place in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne).
In fact, the President noted that his administration hopes to be able to make decisions on the bridge before the end of the year, based on the Expressions of Interest (EoIs) it receives. He also revealed that cabinet will soon be discussing how to improve competitiveness, transportation cost and the efficiency of moving goods and services across both the Berbice and Demerara bridges.
Meanwhile, during his discussions with the ministers on Tuesday, President Ali reminded citizens especially those in Berbice of the way they were treated by the APNU/AFC Coalition.
He stated, “The people of Region Six must ask themselves, why is it this same group of people again are trying to block a four-lane bridge across the Berbice River that will help, that will work 24 hours, improve efficiency, and that will create the opportunity for the expansion of trade, improvement of competitiveness, creation of jobs, and the build-out of what we’re going to see in Region Six?”
Anti-Berbice and anti-development
In fact, similar sentiments were shared by Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, during a press conference on Wednesday, as he too joined in defending the government’s move to firstly build the floating structure and now a new fix bridge across the Berbice River.
“It was always our intention to do a concrete structure and replace the floating structure. So, then what sort of facility study you need really when you just have to connect two points across a river. We have to do it in any case if we want to develop Berbice too,” he stated.
According to the Vice President, when the initial structure was built in 2008 via a public-private partnership, there was not sufficient funds to build a fixed structure.
“At that time, [current AFC Chairman David] Patterson said we needed a concrete structure; why we’re going with a floating structure. But we didn’t have much money at the time… and we still put together the first public-private-partnership that has been a model because the people of Berbice got their bridge and we didn’t have to spend taxpayers’ money on this… It is because of our thinking. The PPP has looked for solutions. Even when we didn’t have money at that time, we found a solution that delivered a bridge to the people in Berbice,” Jagdeo posited.
“They’re anti-Berbice and anti-development…and lies prolifically,” Jagdeo said.
In a direct response to the AFC’s calls, VP Jagdeo went onto draw comparisons between the feasibility study done for the current Berbice River bridge back in 2004 to the tune of US$1.1 million, which was several volumes of documents, and the G$161 million study commissioned by Patterson while in office – a thin document filled with photos – and for which he is currently facing criminal charges.
The vice president pointed out that AFC and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), the largest party in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition, has always been opposed to developmental projects.
“The PNC and AFC was opposed to the Berbice Bridge, they were opposed to the stadium, they were opposed to the CARICOM new building, they were opposed to the convention centre, they were opposed to the Hope Canal, they were to the Marriott, they were opposed to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport…they were opposed to the Amaila. Now they’re opposed to gas-to-energy, they’re opposed to highways we’re building…everything they’re opposed to,” he stated.
Considered the seventh longest floating bridge in the world as of 2016, the 1.57 kilometres (0.98 miles) current Berbice bridge was built by the companies, Bosch Rexroth and Maybey & Johnson at a cost of US$40 million (GYD $8.2 billion). It was completed in 2008 and officially opened on December 23 of that year.
The bridge is operated under a 20-years concessional agreement which comes to an end shortly hence government’s plans for a new bridge across the Berbice River. (G8)