President Irfaan Ali and his Surinamese counterpart, President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons could meet as early as this weekend to advance discussions on the construction of the US$236 million Corentyne River Bridge.

President Ali made the disclosure on Monday, hours after he had met with Suriname’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Melvin Bouva at State House.

At the Office of the President, the President told reporters that the two sides are working out the logistics to facilitate the face-to-face meeting to advance discussions on the Corentyne River Bridge Project, and other projects and programmes.

Guyana is hoping to finalize the financial arrangement for the construction of the bridge.

“That is part of what we are discussing, the financing mechanism, how it will be structured, and those kinds of things. That is what has to be finalized,” President Ali said..

The Joint Ministerial Committee of Suriname and Guyana have been working out the financing modalities for the construction of the Corentyne River Bridge based on a process initiated in November 2020 by President Ali and the then President of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi.

Both sides have underscored 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 South America but also to facilitate people to people contact.

“So, we have not had any changes in the commitment, even today, we have not had a response that this is not a priority but the meeting this weekend, hopefully would clarify and would settle what the priorities are for Suriname at this time. But this is indeed a priority that we have not heard any changes on,” the President said. 

In addition to the construction of the Corentyne River Bridge, the meeting between the two Presidents will also address challenges confronting fisherfolk.

The Government has been working to secure fishing licences for Guyanese fisherfolk from authorities in Suriname.

Improving the efficiency of the Guyana-Suriname Ferry Service, and other joint investment opportunities are among the other areas to be discussed during the planned meeting.

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