BERBICIANS’ use of the river taxis to cross between New Amsterdam and Rosignol has jumped by 59% in the past seven days up to October 3rd, compared with patronage in the first six days from September 21 to September 26th.

A total of 5,264 persons have used the taxis from September 21 to 26, compared with 8,377 persons utilising the service between September 27 and October 3. The number of persons using the service for the first 13 days has been recorded at 13,641, of whom 79% are adults and 21% are children and pensioners.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Miss Annette Ferguson, in disclosing the figures, said it indicated the growing popularity of the service, which many Berbicians have welcomed as a relief to the expenses they would have incurred if they had to cross the Berbice River using the bridge.

“This service is being used by more and more persons [who have become] appreciative of the opportunity granted to them, and [the service] is progressing quite well,” the minister said.

On the other hand, she disclosed that the ministry was not insensitive to the plight of the Route 56 minibuses, which had been shuttling passengers across the bridge prior to the introduction of the river taxis on September 21st. The minister said she had held a meeting with representatives of the Route 56 buses and had promised that she would seek to obtain permission from the Ministry of Public Security to have their route extended to incorporate other geographical areas as a form of compensation for their loss of passengers to the river taxis.

The minister said she would be meeting with the Route 56 buses later this week to further fine-tune details on how government can assist them to overcome the challenge to their livelihood posed by the river taxis.

The river taxis were introduced by the APNU+AFC government after the directors of the Berbice Bridge Company Inc. (BBCI), the alternative river crossing, had baulked at the idea of reducing the price of the crossing, even though they were offered commensurate compensation for this.