The Berbice Bridge Company Inc. (BBCI) featured prominently in last week’s news, following a media briefing by board officials at which the urgent need for the approval of increases in toll fees for vehicles and vessels using the Bridge, was highlighted. The officials cited a 2006 Concession Agreement entered into between the Government and BBCI in which annual increases in toll fees were agreed on commencing 2014, but which had not been implemented. With an accumulated deficit of G$2.8 billion, the officials claim that the company is facing bankruptcy.
BBCI, the owner of the Bridge, was incorporated in April 2005 following which the Berbice River Bridge Act was passed in December 2005 and assented to in January 2006. The Act provides for the establishment of a privately financed Berbice River Bridge and vests with the Minister responsible for Public Works (now Public Infrastructure) the regulatory authority for the operations of the Bridge. Key provisions of the Act include: (i) authority to enter into Concession Agreement; (ii) levying of toll fees during the concession period; (iii) contents of the Concession Agreement; (iii) responsibility for the maintenance of the Bridge; (iv) transfer on termination of the Agreement; and (v) fiscal concessions. By Order No. 42 of 2008, BBCI was granted a 21-year concession commencing June 2006. In according with Section 8 of the Act, the Minister is not authorized to enter into any guarantee of indebtedness incurred by BBCI to third parties in connection with the implementation of the Bridge Project.
The construction of the Berbice Bridge started in 2006 and was completed in 2008 at a cost of G$7.874 billion. It was financed through a combination of loans and equity contributions from the National Insurance Scheme, pension funds, insurance companies, commercial banks and other private investors. To this figure must be added cost of the feasibility study of US$1 million; US$11 million in expenditure on the construction of access roads on both sides of the River; and various expenditures totalling G$85 million incurred by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Ltd. Therefore, the total cost of construction of the Bridge (both direct and indirect) was G$10.359 billion, equivalent to US$51.794 million.
