–Minister Benn

THE members of a recently identified technical team are engaged in a final review of some 23 expressions of interest for the construction of a new Demerara River crossing.“We are waiting the final evaluation and decisions on the expressions of interest,” Minister of Public Works, Transport and Hydraulics, Mr Robeson Benn, said in an invited comment.

He told the Guyana Chronicle that the efforts are, to date, progressing well.

Government had previously indicated that it would invite expressions of interest for a public-private partnership for the construction of the new bridge.

Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) General Manager Mr Rawlston Adams, in February this year, had explained that the feasibility study for the new bridge had already been completed, with Versailles on the West Bank and Houston on the East Bank being determined as having the best advantage in terms of location.

Also, Good Hope on the East Bank and Patentia on the West Bank were cited as possible locations.

Minister Benn at that time had reported that any such arrangement would be handled by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and not his ministry, since that is the agency which attends to such matters.

He explained that the reason such an arrangement is being sought is because the Government does not have the kind of money it would take to finance the venture.

Benn also reported that a freshwater environment is the perfect habitat in which to relocate the current Demerara Harbour Bridge when its replacement comes into operation, with the Kurupukari Crossing on the Upper Essequibo River being listed as the likely candidate.

The new bridge would be made of reinforced concrete, have four lanes (some 20 metres wide) for vehicular traffic; a walkway for pedestrians; a cycle lane; navigational clearance (100m wide); navigational aids; and an estimated length of 2,250 metres.
The current use of the Demerara Harbour Bridge is estimated at 17,000 vehicles a day, a massive volume of traffic utilizing the decades-old bridge.

(Vanessa Narine)