By Imran Khan

AS A proud East Bank Essequibian who, for years, used the Demerara Harbour Bridge on a daily basis to get to and from school and university, I am acutely aware of how essential it is in the daily lives of persons mainly living on the West Bank of Demerara, West Coast of Demerara, and the East Bank of Essequibo.The DHB, or Harbour Bridge, as it is commonly referred to, facilitates commerce, trade, access to markets for farm produce, and allows for thousands of workers and students to travel to work and school on a day-to-day basis.

The current floating Harbour Bridge is, however, well over its intended shelf life. It has been kept going with intense monitoring, renovations, and a considerable amount of finances injected from the public purse.

A feasibility study is ongoing for the construction of a new, modern bridge across the Demerara river, to serve the residents of Regions 2, 3, 4, and 7, who are the principal users.

The Demerara Harbour Bridge was commissioned with a lifespan of 25 years, but, through repairs and upgrades, this has since been extended by 13 years.

In the meantime, it is interesting to note that, in the five years between 2010 and 2015, an enormous amount of subsidy was doled out by Government to the 38-year-old Demerara Harbour Bridge, to ensure its continued operation. This totalled two billion, two hundred and forty-eight million, five hundred thousand dollars ($2,248,500,000), which was funded by the taxpayers of Guyana.

The breakdown is as follows:

2010: seven hundred million, five hundred thousand dollars ($700.5M)
2011: five hundred and fifty million dollars ($550M)
2012: two hundred and seventy million dollars ($270M)
2013: three hundred million dollars ($300M)
2014: three hundred and thirty-eight million dollars ($338M)
2015: ninety million dollars ($90M)

Given that the life of the bridge has been extended for such a significant period, the maintenance costs are particularly high and onerous, and this has been funded by the state to the tune of almost two and a quarter billion dollars over the past five years. This does not include billions of dollars previously placed into the operations of the DHB to allow for its continued existence as an essential service.

In light of these constraints, Government is considering a proposal to nominally rationalize the tolls, for two main reasons:

1: To ensure that the DHB generates enough revenue to cover its annual operating costs without having to be dependent on taxpayer subsidies. (Being dependent on taxpayer subsidies to the tune of over two billion dollars is an obvious burden on the taxpayers of Guyana. These funds could be utilized in other areas, such as education, job creation, salary increase, infrastructure development, security services, better roads, provision of potable water, better electricity supply etc.)

2: To begin preparing for the process of building a new bridge across the Demerara river, to better service the residents of Regions 2, 3, 4, and 7 in their access to Georgetown, Demerara, and Berbice especially.

The current tolls for several categories of vehicles are extremely low. The increases proposed are marginal, and affordability to users is firmly in mind. For example, motorcyclists now pay a mere $20; the proposed increase takes this to $40. Motor car drivers pay $100; the proposal is to increase this to $200. There is no proposed increase for minibuses and SUVs, which currently pay $200.

These increases, while not onerous by any means, and while immensely favourable when compared to the tolls charged at the Berbice Bridge, will significantly aid in ensuring that the DHB is not dependent on the national treasury for survival. The increases will, in fact, provide relief to the taxpayers of Guyana, who will no longer be asked to so heavily subsidize the operations of the DHB, which is so critical to the lives of many who live in Regions 2, 3, and 7, who use the bridge daily or frequently for work, school, business and trade. These nominal increases are, in fact, long overdue.

Imran Khan is Director of Public Information and Press Secretary to Prime Minister, the Honourable Moses Nagamootoo. imran.khan@opm.gov.gy