Berbice River bridge to be built near Everton
PLANS for the long-awaited bridge over the Berbice River include building it near the bauxite mining community of Everton, a source said yesterday. Proposals for constructing the bridge submitted by five firms/consortia are being evaluated. The precise location chosen will determine the length of the bridge which will consist of two lanes for traffic and a footwalk, the source told the Chronicle. It will be built using the BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) approach and the construction firm will on completion of the project, operate the overpass to recoup its capital, before transferring it to the government, according to the source. The five proposals being evaluated were received from Reed & Reed, of the United States; American Enterprises (U.S.), Pinnacle Construction (U.S. Virgin Islands, Guyana National Industrial Company (Guyana) and Universal Steel (U.S.); Group 5 Ltd (South Africa), UWP Engineers (South Africa), Mongmotse Capital (Pty) Ltd (South Africa), Matthews Associates (Guyana); Ballast Nedam International; and GNIC (Guyana), Action Engineering Services (Guyana) and Volker Stevens Construction, Netherlands. The source said the successful company will be required to construct the bridge at a site of their choice, upstream of Everton. Earlier this month, Minister of Works and Transport, Mr. Anthony Zavier, announced during the debate on 2000 Budget in the National Assembly, that the Berbice river Bridge will be completed no later than October 31, 2002. Work on the site is expected to start in November this year, Zavier said. The project is estimated to cost, about US$35M and the Guyana Government has already secured a US$11M loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) An engineer in the Ministry of Surface transport in india was also made available to Guyana to undertake a prefeasability study on the bridge project. The bridge is expected to provide huge economic benefits for the country and save travelling time. Berbicians are among Guyanese who have been calling for the construction to minimise the hassles of using the ferry boat service. 
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