On Sunday last three anchors on the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) broke their moorings after it retracted to allow the passage of ships and as a result of this mishap, hundreds of persons,including government ministers, were stranded.
Consequently, there was a massive build-up of traffic on either side of the river which obviously led to serious  congestion and confusion along the roadways. Imagine if this had happened on a day during the week, when the traffic is much heavier than on weekends, what would have been the situation? This incident  lasted only several hours and on a Sunday at that and the situation was almost unbearable.
Several questions need to be addressed here, including was there an emergency such as a fire in the vicinity of the bridge or nearby areas,  would the fire tenders have been able to get there in a timely manner? If someone who got trapped in the traffic jam became seriously ill, and had to be rushed for urgent medical treatment, how  would that have been possible?
Ever since that bridge was built it has had technical problems periodically, but  due to a massive rehabilitation project several years ago and proper maintenance, the frequency of technical problems has been drastically reduced. In fact, the bridge has long outlasted its life span and credit must go to the management for doing an excellent job in keeping it in good functioning order.
In the years gone by when there were frequent breakdowns, but the number of vehicles on the roads was perhaps half of what it is today, the suffering was excruciating. Fortunately on Sunday the problem was fixed within a few hours. Could anyone imagine what would be the ensuing situation should the bridge be out of order for a day or more?
The reality is that mechanical equipment will always fail at some time or the other and in the case of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, which is the crucial link between West Demerara and Georgetown/East Bank Demerara/East Coast Demerara and therefore we must have alternatives in place to cater for situations like these. In Guyana, the proactive rather than the reactive approach seems to be alien to many managers and administrators and this has resulted in very many problems which could have been prevented had a proactive approach been adopted.
While there is a speedboat service plying the Demerara River, there is also need for alternatives to take vehicles across the river should the bridge experience a breakdown for a long period , as goods and services have to be transported and from Georgetown; and the East Bank of Demerara is the main route to and from CJIA for residents of West Demerara.
In this regard, in the short term, the only alternative is to have a ferry on standby. However, the Georgetown and Vreed-en-Hoop ferry stellings have been allowed to degenerate into a deplorable state and therefore at the moment will not be able to accommodate vessels for docking purposes. These facilities, which were built by the People’s Progressive Party government in the 1960s under the vision of the late Dr Cheddi Jagan to accommodate the MV Macouria, were the most modern in the Caribbean at the time. But for some mysterious reason (s) were left to fall apart. Therefore, serious consideration should be given to restoring these facilities to dock worthiness.
In the long term, plans have to be put in place to have another bridge in tandem with the current one across the Demerara River so one bridge will accommodate vehicles to Georgetown/East Bank Demerara and the other for vehicles going to the West Demerara. In effect, there will be two- lane bridges, because even with the operation of two lanes during peak periods, there is heavy traffic congestion and build-up and the ensuing inconvenience and discomfort.
The amount of vehicles that is coming on to our roads on a daily basis is staggering and with a growing economy and higher standard of living the  numbers will continuously grow and this is what makes the need for a second bridge imperative.