–Minister Edghill says; smooth traffic flow reported at water taxi facilities

WORKS on the Demerara Harbour Bridge’s (DHB) Span Nine are ahead of schedule, according to the Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, during an update on Tuesday.

The DHB was expected to be closed for three days from 11:59 hours on July 24, 2023 to 11:59 hours on July 27, 2023; however, the bridge might open at an earlier time.

“We have already been able to detach the old span nine and the new span nine is in place and they are working to get it aligned. At this time…we are ahead of schedule,” Minister Edghill said.
He related that due to the calmness of the water, the contractor and General Manager of the bridge took advantage of the favourable tide and did works, putting them ahead of schedule.
“[Works] were scheduled at 6am and they did it at around 4:30 hours this morning [Tuesday] so that has given us an advantage,” he related.

Minister Edghill said too that since the bridge was already scheduled to close, they are making use of the time by doing internal rehabilitation works that were set to be completed at a later date.

Meanwhile, the minister visited the three alternative river crossings to ensure that the operations were smooth all over.
He said that the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), made all three crossings operational. These are the Stabroek to Vreed-en-Hoop, the Demerara Harbour Bridge to the other end of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, and Grove to Wales, crossings.
In an invited comment at Wales, Minister Edghill said the facility was built by the DHB just to facilitate the works ongoing at the bridge, and it will continue to be used in a safe way by people in the area.

He related that a number of persons are on the ground to provide assistance and to ensure passengers’ safety when travelling.
Feedback given to Minister Edghill on the traveling operations was that it was smooth, no mob- like behaviour, people were orderly, co-operative and patient; for this, he thanked the people of Guyana.

“So, today [Tuesday] started off in a very good way and we want to keep it like that,” Minister Edghill said.
He said that currently, they have about 78 boats which are operational at the three crossings, giving them the capacity to transport between 5,000 to 7,000 persons per hour across, whether from East to West or West to East.

“One of the boats carry about 30 to 32 passengers on average and it takes about 10 minutes per crossing,” he said.
Additionally, in order to avoid buildups, overcrowding or overcharging, they have hired, apart from the regular monitors through MARAD, an additional 30 monitors to monitor activities at the crossings.
Further, Minister Edghill said that they have not received reports of any incidents of robbery, injury, or hassling.

SPECIAL ATTENTION
He said that special attention is being given to assist women with babies, pregnant mothers, senior citizens, and people who are traveling from overseas with suitcases.
“Systems are in place and it is running very smoothly and I am extremely grateful for that,” Minister Edghill said.
Director General of MARAD, Stephen Thomas, said that they were given the task of ensuring a seamless flow of traffic, full safety, no overcharging of fares and orderliness, and everything has since gone according to plan.

The Guyana Chronicle also spoke to residents of the West Bank and Coast of Demerara, who were travelling over by boat from the Vreed-en-Hoop stelling, to the Stabroek stelling. Everyone reported that it was a smooth experience, as any other day.
Sharon Hardeo, a resident of Dairy, said that she was nervous about traveling over by boat because she thought it would have been challenging to get over; however, she said that it was easy to use the boat.

Avenalla (only name given), said that she was thankful to the Ministry of Public Works for the systems they have put in place to ensure seamless operations at the crossings.
A Tuschen resident, Mahase (only name given), related that the travelling was as normal as any other day.
“I see a lot of improvements like they make this shed here (at the Stabroek stelling) and they make the one over there (Vreed-en-Hoop stelling) to accommodate the passengers so that they wouldn’t get wet when they enter the boat and I feel great about it,” he related.

Another resident of Crane, Clive (only name given) said that it was normal and smooth.

“To me it was a normal thing, it ain’t nothing different really, it was just a normal thing you just have to know how to deal with people, I ain’t really see no overcrowding or anybody making any comments as yet. It was smooth,” he said.