Feasibility study contract signed for Corentyne River Bridge

Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill and his Surinamese counterpart Riad Nurmohamed yesterday inked a US$2 million agreement with WSP Caribbean Limited for the Feasibility Study and Design for the Bridge over the Corentyne River.

The agreement was signed in Suriname after Edghill led a delegation to the neighbouring country.

At the signing ceremony, the Surinamese Technical Assistant for Capital Infrastructure Projects, Kees Boender related that the contract is expected to last for seven months and after which both governments would be in a position to advertise the tender for the construction of the bridge by late 2022 or early 2023.

There is also an urgent need for an economic viability study! I dare to ask whether there is really a pressing need for a bridge over the Corentyne river costing well over 100 million USD, when there is hardly any transnational traffic between Guyana and Suriname? Here is the evidence for my claim: A few weeks go the only ferry carrying trucks and cars across the Corentyne was out of service for a few days due to urgently needed repairs. Did we see huge traffic backups at the Guyanese and Surinamese ferry terminals? Not to my knowledge!

How is the Ali administration planing to pay for the bridge? If there is indeed hardly any transnational traffic, toll collection will never cover the construction costs. Wouldn't improvements to the ferry service between Guyana and Suriname do the job of fostering more trade between the two nations? Why not purchase two larger state-of-the ferries that can carry more trucks and cars? In addition, one could upgrade the ferry terminals to accommodate more car and trucks. Once transnational traffic increases significantly over the current status, one should consider building a bridge. The saved millions could be used to upgrade the coast highway to a four-lane freeway between Corriverton and Georgetown.