The Joint Ministerial Committee of Suriname and Guyana met on Tuesday in Paramaribo to further work out the financing modalities for the construction of the Corentyne River bridge. The meeting was held as part of the ongoing process to pursue the Bridge across the Corentyne River, which will easily connect Suriname and Guyana.

The process was initiated in November 2020 by Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi and Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali.

Guyana’s delegation was led by Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, Works Minister Juan Edghill and Permanent Secretary in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ambassador Eliabeth Harper.

While the Surinamese delegation represented by H.E. Albert Ramdin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation, H.E. Kermechend Raghoebarsing, Minister of Finance and Planning, and H.E. Riad Nurmohamed, Minister of Public Works and their technical teams.

A joint statement released by the Ministry of Public works stated that both sides reiterated the importance of a fixed connection between the two countries, not only to advance economic opportunities and to connect the road network between Guyana and Suriname, and ultimately enhance hemispheric connectivity with Brazil and the rest of the South American continent, but also, to facilitate people to people contact.

 In this regard, the Ministry said, both sides restated their commitment to the timely construction of the bridge. 

“A number of specific recommendations regarding construction, financing and management, emanating from this Ministerial meeting set out a clear time bound framework to take this initiative to the next level. Following these decisions, it is anticipated that construction could commence before the end of 2024,’ the Ministry said in a statement.

The recommendations from yesterday’s meeting are expected to be submitted to the Presidents of Suriname and Guyana for further consideration and decision, at their anticipated meeting this weekend in Guyana.

While five companies were pre-qualified, only two had submitted bids to build the bridge—Ballast Nedham, a company headquartered in the Netherlands, is competing against the Chinese company, China Roads and Bridges for the contract.

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