The PNCR it would seem are busy protesting done deals. I wonder wheth
er this is part of some contrived but woefully misplaced strategy on the part of the main opposition, for heaven knows what ends.
Take for example, the construction of the Berbice River Bridge . I had anticipated that the PNCR would have been keen to keep pressure on the government to move hastily to ensure the completion of this important national project; one that should be supported by all Guyanese since it is good for the country.
Sadly, I am told that the PNCR has tabled a motion in the National Assembly calling for the construction to be paused until a debate takes place on the best location for the bridge.
My immediate reaction is why is the PNCR now making an issue about the location of the bridge. Why was this not done before the elections when it could have become an election issue? Surely the PNCR must have good reasons for questioning the location of the bridge, but if these include that the bridge would be better sited at Ithaca and Bermine, then it would seem as if the PNCR is in a great deal of confusion.
When the idea of finding a suitable location for the bridge was first mooted, Bermine was suggested as a possible location. However, in order for the bridge to have been constructed at that location, access roads, costing tens of millions of US dollars, would have to be laid on the approaches to the bridge on both sides of the river.
As was revealed by the government, this was considered and a feasibility study done. This study established that the best place where the bridge is to be constructed is just opposite Crab Island . This feasibility study was carried out by experts, and not by PPP party agents from Robb Street .
One may add that from a practical standpoint, it would make little sense to build a bridge at the Bermine location.
A person from the Corentyne, where the bulk of the population in the county resides, wishing to travel to the City would have to drive all the way to that location to cross and then having done so, travel a similar number of miles to connect with the Rosignol Public Road .
Commonsense would dictate that instead of doing all of this driving, it will be much cheaper and convenient simply to take a river crossing. Thus instead of building a bridge at Bermine, it would have made much more sense for the government to simply invest in a larger and faster ferry to move vehicles between the Rosignol and New Amsterdam terminals.
The government of Guyana has entered into an arrangement with a private consortium to construct the Berbice River Bridge . It is a done deal. To now stop construction would only raise the cost of construction and throw the entire project into a financial mess.
The Peeper believes that the construction of the bridge would be finished six months before the next general and regional elections. I am tempted to ask whether the PNCR motion is influenced by this fact.
In the circumstances, it will be wiser for the PNCR to request that construction be hastened so that the bridge is completed long before the elections and thus cannot have as great a political impact as if is completed in time for the next general elections.
I cannot understand why the PNCR wants work on the bridge halted. This bridge should have been constructed ages ago and had it not been for the forcefulness of Ravi Dev, it may never have materialized.
Politics has been very unkind to Dev in this country and even though it is wishful thinking to believe that the authorities would name the bridge after Ravi Dev, it is a position that the PNCR may wish to advocate as a sign of gratitude towards their former street protest partner.
The PNCR will displease a great number of persons in the Berbice area if it persists in asking that construction be halted.
The PNCR is living in the past. The present location was decided on after a detailed feasibility study was done and even if the PNCR has doubts about that study, the location of the Berbice Bridge is now a done deal. Construction will move ahead and Berbicians are anxious for the bridge to be constructed.
This does not mean that if the PNCR has reservations it should not express these reservations. Just what are these reservations and how firmly grounded are they?
If the PNCR has some reason to propose that the present location is not ideal it should state so, but please do not come up with the Bermine location since the bulk of travelers to Berbice gravitate towards the Coast and it makes no sense to spend millions of United States dollars on access roads.
It would make the project no longer feasible and the private sector consortium would pull out and in the process sue the government for losses.
If a new location has to be decided on, it will take another three years of preparatory work and feasibility studies which would mean that Berbicians would never have the services of a Bridge across the river until the next ten years, and quite simply Berbicians cannot wait this long.
The Berbice River Bridge is a done deal. The construction should not be halted.