Guyanese working on Suriname bridge look forward to similar project here
Guyanese, currently working on the bridge across the Suriname River, are looking forward to gaining employment during the construction of the proposed bridge over the Berbice River. Stabroek News spoke with officials and a Guyanese worker who hails from Stewartville, West Coast Demerara, last week at the construction site in Paramaribo where the Suriname Bridge is being built at a cost of US$90 million. Some 700 persons were employed in the initial phase but as the bridge is nearing completion, only 200 workers have been retained. An engineer who took Stabroek News and Capitol News on a tour of the bridge last weekend, said that there were many Guyanese who worked on the bridge and with the experience they had gained were looking forward to working on another such project. The bridge is due to be completed by mid-April in time for an official opening on May 19. The bridge is elevated at a height of 43 metres above water level at high tide at the channel where ocean going vessels would travel. The Suriname Bridge, which is 1,504 metres long, is already being dubbed a tourist attraction. A number of visitors, including students, are currently being given guided tours. The bridge is being built by the Dutch Company, Ballast Nedam, which has an interest in the construction of the Berbice River bridge. An official of the company told Stabroek News that if Ballast Nedam builds the Berbice bridge, it would look like the Suriname Bridge. The cost may be in the same vicinity. The official said that the bridge has a maintenance period of 75 years. Work on the bridge began in November 1997 and according to an engineer, the progress has been steady with work being "very much within the schedule". The bridge was built with central government funding. While the project has evoked some amount of controversy particularly among those who felt that the taxpayers money could have been spent elsewhere, supporters feel that the development of Paramaribo and the community on the other side of the river could be speeded up. They feel that they bridge could make a big difference to development. At present people travelling to either side of the river use a ferry service. As the construction project began to near completion, Ballast Nedam set up a cement factory which now employs some of the workers who were laid off from the bridge construction project.
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