– AFC assures East Berbice proposed toll hike won’t fly

THE executive arm of the Alliance for Change party, led by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, took to the east Friday with their Local Government Elections (LGEs) campaign.

The meeting point was the Auchlyne Primary School compound in East Berbice Corentyne, where the prime minister and members of his team, among them Party Vice-President Khemraj Ramjattan, Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin, and Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, did a good job of dispelling the people’s fears about the proposed hike in the Berbice Bridge tolls.

They all assured East Berbicians that the proposed increases are nothing but a political ploy by the opposition in an attempt to incite fear in their minds, and by so doing convince them to vote for them at the upcoming LGEs.

“They are trying to make some areas a battle ground, but as we’ve said time and again,” Minister Nagamootoo said, “this is not a war; this is a contest; this is a peaceful competition among parties to provide leadership in the communities.
“And we know that this tactic of discrediting the AFC has to do with this terrorist domestic campaign, that if you don’t vote them in, they will scare you and bring police on you. But they are not running things.”

The prime minister said that those same scare tactics were used with the Berbice Bridge to make the Coalition government look bad.

“They try a trick to make you feel angry and unhappy,” he said. “They got their friends to increase the tolls in the Berbice Bridge by almost 500%. That bridge was established under the Jagdeo Regime; they did this trickery and then come crying crocodile tears, ‘Nah me! Nah me!’

“But that is not going to happen under this government; and we want you to stand up with us on an appointed day to protest and
close it down to show them the might of the Guyanese people.”

‘NOT ANOTHER CENT’
Things would get decidedly hot when
Minister Patterson took to the podium to give a detailed history of the Berbice Bridge and its issues, and to assure his audience that they had nothing to fear, as they won’t be paying a red cent more.

“I said it before, and I will say it here again today, Not another cent!” Minister Patterson declared, much to the delight of the people, who, as if on cue, immediately began chanting:

“No raise of fare! No raise of fare!”

As Minister Patterson explained, the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) approached him on three occasions seeking a toll increase, but he denied the request each time as he believes the current rates are too high for the people to bear, much less an increase.

“The rates that are being proposed of $8040 is about one-sixth of the minimum wage,” Minister Patterson said. “And if you cross the bridge twice per month, it’s like rent.
“If you have emergencies and cross twice, its like half of your rent.”

The meeting came to a close with the Prime Minister appealing to the people to not be sucked into the vindictive tactics of the opposition.

“This politics should not be about vendetta; it should not be about vengeance,” Minister Nagamootoo said, adding:
“Our politics must be about healing; our politics must be about cohesion; about unity and not division.

“Nothing should stop the Guyanese people from choosing candidates for LGEs, NDCs and for the municipalities. They have seen the phenomenal changes that are taking place in Guyana under the Coalition.
“The Coalition is intact; the Coalition is safe; the Coalition is strong.”