A NUMBER of issues concerning the multi-purpose complex at the Takutu Bridge in Lethem are being finalised and are expected to be completed by the end of this month.

Speaking with Guyana Chronicle from his Kingston, Georgetown office recently, Public Works Minister Robeson Benn said there were still some issues with electricity supply at the building that are being resolved.

‘A generator and two transformers are going up this weekend to resolve those issues. As far as we are concerned, by month end, everything should be all right,” Minister Benn said.

He explained that his Ministry has always maintained that the bridge and the building can be opened, but there were concerns as to the readiness of the multipurpose centre itself.

He pointed to a number road works his Ministry is carrying out in that area. “The ongoing scenario is that we have put in additional roadways from the Tapachinga Bridge to the crossing, put in additional parking at the facility, as well as scales and an examination shed” he said.

In June last, Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett had given assurances that issues were being ironed out as it relates to persons importing or exporting goods between Guyana and Brazil without paying taxes.

These issues have since been addressed on Guyana’s side, and certain arrangements will be implemented upon completion of the centre, since the Guyana Revenue Authority has completed arrangements with regards to the tax system in Lethem and for taxes that may be imposed on commodities imported from Brazil.

The importation and exportation of goods across the Takutu Bridge would then have to meet the necessary requirements at Lethem for continued economic activities.

The inauguration of the bridge will signal a deepening of the good relations between Guyana and its southern partner, Brazil, and is also one of 335 projects identified by the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA), initiated by South American Governments.

Under the IIRSA, South American leaders are looking to construct a new infrastructural network for the continent, inclusive of which are roads, waterways, ports, and energy and communications interconnections.

The link between the two countries is expected to bring about numerous opportunities for tourism and commerce.

Newly appointed Charge d’Affaires of the Brazilian Embassy in Guyana, Mr. Rodrigo Fonseca, in a recent sit down with the Guyana Chronicle, had also assured of his country’s readiness for the commissioning of the bridge.