–no alternative means of transportation in place

THE ferry service from Guyana to Suriname will be down from January 6-14, 2018 since the M.V Canawaima is scheduled for an emergency docking in order to restore both engines.

“The M.V Canawaima continues to experience extensive mechanical challenges that prompted the hire of a tug to assist in the propulsion of the vessel,” said Terminal Manager of the Canawaima Ferry Services, Deyne Harry during his presentation at the yearend press conference of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure at the Transport Sports Club on Thursday.

The ferry vessel, which travels from Moleson Creek on the Guyana side of the border with Suriname to Nickerie on the other side, has been reportedly delayed on several occasions because of the temporary use of the tug.

So, in order to rectify the problem, they intend to fix the ferry’s engines, but in the interim, there will be no other legal alternatives for crossing from Guyana to Suriname.

Although both the Governments of Guyana and Suriname are usually responsible for the rehabilitation of the vessel, he did not reveal which government would do the repairs when the vessel is docked in January.

Of late, the MV Canawaima has been operating once daily in order to facilitate travel to and from the two countries.

But after the repairs will have been completed, Harry said, the company might very well have to implement a second schedule, due to the volume of traffic the service sees each day.

He went on to point out that passenger traffic has decreased by 11 per cent in 2017 over that of 2016. Similarly, vehicular traffic has also seen a decrease of 4 per cent as compared to that of 2016 but they continue to offer rebates to groups that satisfy the stipulated requirements.

Some of the company’s projects for 2018 include an increase in traffic by 2 per cent, the installation of body and baggage scanners, and perimeter lights along access road; the setting up of a website; and the construction of reservoirs.

Meanwhile, the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) has been granted $762M for the rehabilitation of three stellings and reconditioning of three ferry vessels in 2018.

The vessels that will be reconditioned are the M.V Makouria, M.V Kanawan and M.V Sabanto, while the Bartica, Leguan and Supenaam Stellings will be rehabilitated.