GOVERNMENT is negotiating with the Berbice Bridge Company Incorporated (BBCI) to have mini-buses that ply the Georgetown to Moleson Creek route pay “next to nothing.”
According to Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, BBCI approached the ministry for help, and he is using the opportunity to ease the financial strain on Berbicians.
He noted that it is expected that the mini-bus operators drop the passengers’ prices to “low gravy,” once the deal is done.
Once the negotiations are successful, Patterson said, this would positively impact the daily lives of students, teachers, and nurses, among others who utilise the bridge on a daily basis.
The minister said that the BBCI “were supposed to come back to me at the beginning of this month; so, as soon as they come back, and as soon that is agreed, I will implement it. So I am hoping that everybody could make a living, and Berbice could make a living.”
When the 2015 National Budget was passed, the government took the first step to ensure that prices for mini-buses to cross were lowered from $2200 to $1900, which represented a 10 per cent decrease in the toll.