Work on Berbice Bridge to start during first half of next year - director
Stabroek News
December 19, 2006
Physical work on the Berbice River Bridge should commence during the first half of next year now that the houses blocking the approach road at D'Edward have been moved.
Contracts for the new Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded roads have gone to tender having been advertised in the press.
The project is in the final stages of the design phase and things are going according to the schedule, Geeta Singh, a Director on the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) Board, said
She said that the contractor is now working to come up with the best design for the bridge, after which physical work would begin.
The BBCI on August 23 this year presented a cheque of US$5.4M to the consortium of Bosch Rexroth BV of the Netherlands and Mabey & Johnson of the United Kingdom representing the first tranche of payment for the design and construction of the bridge.
This followed full financial closure of the US$40M committed to the project on August 1. The bridge is scheduled to be completed during the first half of 2008.
The floating bridge will be 1.75 kilometres and will extend from D'Edward Village on the western bank of the Berbice River to Crab Island on the eastern bank.
On May 17 this year, the contract for the design/construction was finalised with the successful consortium. BBCI has also contracted ND Lea (Vancouver, Canada), who is associated with CEMCO, as the independent engineer for the project's supervision. This firm will ensure that all the work done is to the specification required for the project.
BBCI's six common shareholders are the Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO), the NIS, the Hand-in-Hand Fire Insurance Com-pany, Secure International Finance, Demerara Engineers & Contractors Ltd (a subsidiary of DDL), and New GPC Inc.
Other investors in the project are Republic Bank Ltd, Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry, Citizens Bank, Demerara Bank, Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI), Hand-in-Hand Trust Corporation, Guyana Geo-logy and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the New Building Society (NBS).
The other directors of BBCI are Keith Evelyn, Paul Cheong, Egbert Carter, Cecil Kennard, CCH and P.E. Fredericks.
In December 2005, the Government of Guyana passed the Berbice Bridge Act and in July 2006, it executed a Concession Agreement with the BBCI for the Berbice Bridge Project.
The toll bridge will be operated under a build, operate and transfer (BOT) arrangement for 21 years following which the bridge will be transferred to the government.