CABINET Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon yesterday said, at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing, that a considerable amount of work has been undertaken and completed with regard to the establishment of a bridge across the Corentyne River, which would see ties between Guyana and neighbouring Suriname being strengthened.

The two neighbouring countries had advanced talks on bridging the Corentyne River ever since 2010, when Suriname President Desi Bouterse visited Guyana under the administration of former President Bharrat Jagdeo.
“The two countries have signalled their strong support for the establishment of the land linkage across the Corentyne River,” Dr Luncheon remarked.
Considerable work has been done in terms of site selection and feasibility, technology to be used and specifications, and the specific kind of bridge to be established. Funding for the construction and operation of the bridge has been a collaborative exercise between the two governments and the international financial institutions, Luncheon noted.
“And those discussions continue even as we speak, to arrive at a specific approach that would see funding made available to complete the preliminary studies, feasibilities, subsequent to which the project will be going out to bid for the construction of the bridge.”
Luncheon said the bridge is expected within the next three to five years. “The work that has been done has brought us to the point where we have to seriously consider the technology, the feasibility, and equally important is the financing of this project to bridge the two Guianas.”
Meanwhile, Luncheon said Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee reported to Cabinet on the very successful outcome of the latest engagement between Guyana and Suriname under the President’s Engagement Initiative, set up under former President Jagdeo and current Suriname President Bouterse.
He said the encounter took place in Paramaribo, where a very top level delegation from the Guyana military, civilian law enforcement, and revenue protection agencies engaged their Surinamese counterparts.
Military matters, civilian law enforcement matters, and revenue protection matters dominated the discourses over the period of the encounter, Luncheon informed.
“Minister Rohee was loud in his recognition of the quality of the outcome of that event under the presidential engagement initiative,” Dr Luncheon reported.