ENGINEER, Wayne Watson, has been appointed the new General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC). According to a press statement issued on Saturday night, Watson was appointed with immediate effect by Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill, acting on recommendations from the Corporation’s Board of Directors. As Watson prepares to take on his new role later in the week, he has prioritised addressing the daily traffic congestion that plagues both the eastern and western ends of the bridge. In addition to strengthening partnerships with the Guyana Police Force, Watson also plans to examine the possibility of having the daily maintenance works be done while the bridge is in retraction mode. “The bridge is open (closed to vehicular traffic) let’s say, for an hour/hour and a half to two hours; I believe that a lot of maintenance works could be done simultaneously; the welding and fabrication, the replacement of components, and so on,” Watson told the Guyana Chronicle on Sunday.

He also spoke of his plans to curb accidents caused by sea vessels traversing the Demerara River. “We would need to ensure that we work hand in hand to track every vessel that is passing through the bridge, and when they will pass and so on, to ensure that all the approvals and clearances are done,” Watson said.
The new DHBC boss is also planning to improve the entity’s communications capacity to ensure that notices of closures and other issues relating to travel can be communicated to the public in an efficient and time-sensitive manner. Asked how he feels about taking up a position that has been at the centre of much negativity, Watson said that he does not want to speculate on issues of the past; he, however, plans to ensure that his duties and responsibilities are executed in a transparent manner. “I will ensure that all stakeholders are consulted and allowed to make contributions wherever possible; no one-man knows it all, and based on my understanding, there is a very experienced and qualified team there (at the DHBC), so I am hoping for it to be team effort to get things done,” the former Guyana Power and Light official noted.

Once he assumes his new role, Watson said that the operations of the DHBC will be assessed, and that policies and programmes would be modified where necessary. “I am hoping that the staff will be open to embracing a culture change,” Watson said. He added, “We have to try to produce a culture that gives us the kind of results that are required. You cannot do the same thing and expect different results; we have to remodel and tweak.” Watson replaces the DHBC’s longstanding General Manager, Rawlston Adams, who resigned following the ‘detection’ of a gift-giving scandal that permeated the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, now renamed the Ministry of Public Works. A 2020 audit had found that, in 2019, Adams approved the purchase of an $897,000 bracelet for himself, as a gift for International Men’s Day. Previous reports indicated that Adams had commenced repaying for the expensive item.

Nonetheless, after the vacancy notice for the DHBC position was published in early February, Watson applied, and was deemed, by the Corporation’s Board of Directors, to be the most suitable person to replace Adams. Watson holds a Master Degree in Strategic Engineering from the Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Guyana. He also has over a decade of managerial and engineering experience in the power sector. “His core competencies include Strategic Thinking, Integrated Reporting, Budgeting and Forecasting, Governance and Risk Management, Ethics and Professionalism, Stakeholders’ Relationship Management, Procurement and Supply Chain Management, project Management and Team Building and Performance Management,” the press release highlighted. It noted too that Watson served in the positions of Loss Reduction Metering Manager, Loss Reduction Operations’ Manager, Assistant Engineer 1, Loss Reduction Operations’ Manager and Electrical Engineer. He is also the holder of several other academic certificates, Saturday night’s press statement noted.