When the definitive history of this period is written, the floating bridge spanning the Berbice River will be hailed as one of the outstanding achievements of PPP/Civic governance and one that President Jagdeo will be credited with. It has not been a golden period of governance of this country but it has been studded with sterling achievements which makes one ponder what could have been had there not been so much divisive, petty and opportunistic politics.
For Guyanese who live on either side of the bridge, its construction represents the end of the tortuous reliance on the Berbice ferry crossing. Berbicians who had to travel out of the country had to plan way ahead to get to the Timehri airport in good time and on their return had to brave the hazards of late crossings or waiting until the next day. And so it was with even the smallest task across the river. Similarly, people on the western side of the bridge were also inconvenienced and the hassle of the crossing dissuaded many from visiting the Ancient Country and experiencing what it had to offer.
It is projects like these – not the white elephant cricket stadium – which improve the governance ratings of countries like Guyana as there is an identifiable and viable rate of return, the bridge impacts positively on the every-day lives of tens of thousands of Guyanese and there are now limitless opportunities for commerce and investment by those on either side of the river.
The bridge, of course, has another crucial upside. In the backdrop of the spurious territorial claims by Suriname and the increasing belligerence evident from Paramaribo, the Berbice Bridge knits the Corentyne and all of the Berbice even closer to the two other counties and the centre. Its construction is not the result of the South American Infrastructure Integration project but can be an important element if Guyana so decides to take the plunge.
As a prestige project, the bridge also opens up enormous opportunities for Berbice to better position itself in terms of international trade. If, indeed, it is feasible for the deepwater port to be constructed in Berbice, the bridge will be one of the links that would make it work. Berbicians can now dream a little bigger as a result of the bridge that stretches from D’Edward Village to Crab Island.
There are still significant concerns about the bridge’s impact on siltation along the course of the river and the fragile ecosystems on Crab island and elsewhere and these should continue to be studied by the relevant government agencies.
Those running the bridge will be able to profit from the case study that the Demerara Harbour Bridge has presented over the last 30 years. The 1978 floating bridge has done for West Demerara what it is hoped will be done for Berbice. It however exposed one of the most glaring blunders of the Burnham and subsequent administrations: poor maintenance. No infrastructure of this type can be simply set down to run without a rigorous maintenance and upgrading regime. The memories of the catastrophic failures of the Demerara Bridge under the PNC and the nail-biting dramas of the floating parts will forever be instilled in those who lived through them. Recently, there was a resurgence of problems with maintenance of the bridge which rekindled those nightmares and the President himself expressed his deep displeasure.
The point being that anyone can become complacent particularly the government which had hitherto had a good record on the bridge and had managed to secure significant foreign funding for the extension of its life. The company in charge of the Berbice Bridge – with its investment-driven objectives – will be expected to do a far better job considering that there is a fixed period for the investment recovery.
On that note, the innovative public/private partnership for the bridge has been hailed by President Jagdeo as an example of the dynamism that features occasionally between the state and the private sector. When there were naysayers, the partnership proved them wrong and has delivered the bridge. The spirit of this innovation must not die. This is what President Jagdeo must seek to spark again in the interest of an even more compelling demand of the country and its citizens – drainage capacity that can withstand the yearly deluges. This is not something that the private sector will take an interest in but it is an area where President Jagdeo’s government needs to do more in mobilizing funds from the country’s own resources and elsewhere. Is this a challenge that President Jagdeo’s government can rise to?
