Those who ply the Essequibo River route, particularly the Parika/Essequibo Coast one, will soon breathe a sigh of relief as the two modern ferries will become operational.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) quoted Chinese Ambassador Yu Wenzhe as stating that the two new roll on/roll off ferries Guyana will be receiving from China are likely to dock here before Christmas.

This disclosure was made when the Ambassador paid a courtesy call on President Donald Ramotar at the Office of the President on Monday.

The ferries are presently anchored in neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago, awaiting completion of the Parika Stelling overhaul that will make way for accommodation of the two large ocean-going vessels.

The contract for the design and construction of the two vessels was inked in December, 2010, by Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn, and Economic and Commercial Councillor of the Chinese Embassy in Guyana, Huang Shaowen, who acted on behalf of Tongfang Jiangxin Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.

The pact followed a grant agreement between the governments of Guyana and China, in November 2009, for the design and construction of the two vessels for use by Guyana. The cost for the construction of the ferries is 89,520,000 yuan.

Gratitude must be expressed to the Chinese government for their tangible support in ensuring the fruition of this vital project. Indeed, since the establishment of diplomatic relations between our country and the People’s Republic of China, Guyana has been the recipient of tremendous technical and financial assistance from the latter.

While there is a thriving speed boat service plying the route, it is very costly and only those who could afford it really benefit.  However, transportation of goods of all types is done via the old ferries which take a very long time to get from Essequibo to Parika and back.

In addition, drivers of vehicles have to line up from early hours and wait a long time to get their vehicles on the ferries. And this has been for decades. That will now become something of the past.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) led government made a promise to provide new and modern ferries to end the agony of the journey between the Essequibo Coast and Parika, and it has now delivered on that promise.

When the new ferries go into operation, a whole new vista of business, commercial and agricultural opportunities would be opened for the people of Essequibo; there will be much more movement of goods and agricultural produce along this route and the time it takes for this movement would be drastically reduced. This should impact positively on employment and prices of goods for Essequibians.

Essequibo, which is the largest agricultural county of our three counties, should see even greater expansion of its agricultural sector. This would mean more opportunities and possibly greater earnings for farmers who form a major part of the population of Essequibo.

In fact, already in anticipation of the two new vessels and improved transportation, about 6,000 acres of land are at present being developed for non-traditional crops at Aurora and Good Hope, Essequibo.

Now that the transportation service between Essequibo and Parika will be receiving a dramatic boost which is vital to the development and advancement of Essequibo, the authorities should also look at the improvement of ferry services to other destinations such as those in Regions One and Seven, as the communities in those regions have also been enduring rough times with transportation and therefore could do well with improved maritime transport.

Region One is also a big agricultural producer, but transportation of their produce is severely curtailing the unleashing of their full potential in agriculture.