Government yesterday an-nounced that the toll for the Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge in Linden will be in-creased, a year after Linden’s Interim Manage-ment Committee (IMC) voted for the increase.
“Cabinet has concurred with the recommendation of the Minister of Local Government to have the tolls on the Mackenzie/ Wismar Bridge increased,” Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon yesterday said.
The current $40 toll on motor vehicles, which is paid on the Mackenzie side of the bridge, was the result of a hike made in 1994.
While Luncheon did not say when or by how much the tolls will be increased, he informed that the funds garnered from the increase will be divided at a 70:30 percentage to Linden’s Interim Management Com-mittee and National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), respectively.
However, Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon told Stabroek News that the IMC was not aware of the decision and only learnt of it through the media. He said that members were surprised that government would announce a decision as the IMC had been engaging government over a proposed raise and that they had yet to come to an agreement. “They were in discussions and a 75 to 25 percent of the distribution of the profits had been discussed…the IMC doesn’t know about this decision. They are aware that a toll raise would be instituted but the moving forward aspect of it they were told that they would come back to negotiate and finalise,” he said. Further, Solomon said that he was upset that residents of the region were not consulted and informed of the raise. He believes that consultation was needed to inform the residents of the need for the increase and prepare them for the eventuality. “There is a lot of money spent on the bridge and all of that I understand but the residents should have been properly consulted,” he said. “As Chairman of the region I believe that consideration should have taken of the residents and consultations should have been done explaining to them what was being proposed, how it will affect them and all of that. The people want to know,” he added.
The Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge serves as a link to commuters going to various hinterland communities, especially Mahdia, Lethem and Bartica. It also is used by the townspeople to cross from Mackenzie to Wismar and vice versa.
Minister of Works Robeson Benn, whose ministry has been maintaining the bridge because it is part of the public road system, will soon sign the ministerial order for the increase. Benn told Stabroek News that a fixed increase sum had not been made as yet as his ministry has to review all the technicalities before a decision is made.
He also said that his ministry has spent “enormous funds” on rehabilitation and maintenance of the bridge and welcomes the increase.
Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Public Works Walter Willis said that over $200M has been spent on rehabilitative works on the bridge in the last four years.
