One day after President Irfaan Ali announced plans to construct a new Berbice River Bridge, opposition party, the Alliance For Change (AFC) has expressed concern regarding the proposed construction of a new Berbice River Bridge.

President Irfaan Ali has said the new Berbice Bridge will be modeled after the New Demerara River Bridge, which is currently under construction.

According to the AFC, such a facility will cost hundreds of millions of U.S dollars which far exceeds the cost of the existing Berbice Bridge which was built in 2008.

The party believes the proposed project necessitates rigorous scrutiny and transparency to ensure that it is in the best interest of the Guyanese people.

“While the AFC is not opposed to development and modernization, we emphasize the need for responsible governance, especially when it involves substantial public expenditure. The AFC calls on the government to immediately release the findings of any pre-feasibility study that has informed the decision to proceed with this new bridge project. We also expect that a comprehensive feasibility study and an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) will be conducted and made available to the public before any further steps are taken,” the AFC said today.

Among the concerns raised by the party is that the current Berbice Bridge operates under a concessional agreement that runs until 2030. The AFC questions whether the Government intends to prematurely terminate the existing agreement, and if so, what compensation will be provided to the Berbice Bridge Company. 

Additionally the opposition party wants to know about the financial viability of the existing bridge since concerns were earlier raised that it had been operating at a loss.

“The existing Berbice Bridge, which cost US$40 million, was initially criticized for its questionable feasibility. The then-PPP government resorted to a controversial public-private partnership (PPP) model, aspects of which are still under judicial review. The AFC urges the government to avoid repeating past mistakes by ensuring that this new project is based on solid, transparent, and publicly available data,” the AFC noted.

The AFC is also concerned that the decision to build a new bridge may be based on flawed assumptions. The party questions if an assessment has been done for a feasibility of the bridge and if not, why is it still being pursued.

“The AFC reminds the government that despite Guyana’s newfound oil wealth, the country’s needs far exceed its revenues. It is imperative that every dollar spent yields maximum returns for the benefit of all Guyanese. Reckless spending on projects that lack clear feasibility and do not offer foreseeable benefits in the short and medium term will place an undue financial burden on future generation,” the party said.

The party has called on the administration to provide the public with all relevant studies and assessments related to the new Berbice River Bridge project.

In a NewsRoom report, President Ali was quoted as explaining that a new Berbice Bridge will cater for the expansion that will take place at Palmyra, the gas project that will be built in Region Six, and also the development of an industrial park with the port facilities that will support these services.

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