Demerara jet boat now providing all-day service
Pensioners go free
Stabroek News
May 23, 2003
The Transport and Harbours Department (TH&D), in conjunction with Whitewater Tours, on Wednesday launched a new all-day jet boat service across the Demerara River with pensioners allowed to cross free.
One week ago Whitewater introduced the jet boat service from 6 pm to midnight at a cost of $180 per person.
With this new agreement the boat will now be operating from 7 am - 7 pm and the fare will be $100, $40 more than regular speedboat fares.
Scores of workers yesterday morning chose the jet boat over the smaller speedboats and the ferry with one passenger citing the comfortable ride.
A Split Image press release on behalf of the TH&D says the new service will supplement the existing ferry service, and concessions such as the public service pension cards would be honoured.
The vessel being used meets all safety requirements for both daytime and nighttime travel.
Also, the operators have plans to introduce day and evening cruises on Sundays and Public Holidays. These tours would allow passengers to experience Georgetown's harbour from the river and to pass under the Demerara Harbour Bridge, the release added.
When Stabroek News visited the ferry stelling yesterday morning, Dyon Boyce from Crane said from what he had experienced he was convinced that the jet boat would be offering a better service than the other vessels. He was however hoping that a second jet boat could be added soon.
According to Boyce he got to work in Georgetown earlier than usual. He said he usually had to wait over 15 minutes before a smaller boat could be filled, while he would have to wait for over an hour to cross with the TH&D steamer.
But he was not sure the rush would continue since the $100 fare was far more than what passengers were accustomed to.
"It would be hard on me to keep up with this, because I usually budget my spending."
He did remark that with the rainy season it would be wiser to pay the extra $40.
Other passengers said the jet boat had a canopy which could protect passengers from the sun and water. Others complained about the crude behaviour and language of most speedboat operators.
Meanwhile, another passenger explained that the cost to travel across the Harbour Bridge on a minibus was the same price as the jet boat. "This thing is not too economical and while it is more safe than the other boats, the time I gonna pay $100 to cross in a safer boat across the river I can spend that same $100 to cross in a minibus where I will feel more safe." (Nigel Williams)
