By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Berbice Bridge Company Incorporated (BBCI) and the Government of Guyana are now sitting at the table for talks over the lowering of the Berbice Bridge tolls.
This is after weeks of stalemate between the two sides after the Company refused a $120M annual subvention, citing insolvency among other issues.
“Both sides are now at the table of talking which is where we should have been many months ago,” said Governance Minister, Raphael Trotman at a post Cabinet Media briefing on Thursday, November 05.
Trotman said that the government remains very optimistic that it would be able to arrive at a deal with BBCI, which would be mutually beneficial to both parties.
“We are very optimistic that we can come to a mutually agreeable position. I can’t say we are at the stage where we are about to complete an agreement within the next 48 hours….the expectation is that within the next few weeks we should have it sorted out,” he stated.
BBCI recently announced that they submitted a proposal to the Government as it relates to accepting the $40M subvention for the proposed reduction in tolls for crossing the Berbice River Bridge.
Lowering the tolls for the bridge would see the fulfillment of an incremental campaign promise made by the 6-Party coalition government.
The Coalition government had given the Bridge Authority an opportunity to enter an agreement with it to lower the Toll Fee which would have been subsidized by the government and would have lost it no revenue,but being advised by the former government not to accept,has caused the Bridge authority to look bad,with its willingness now to negotiate.All the PPP is doing now,is digging a hole in which they themselves will surely fall in to.They lack foresight and wisdom,prophets of DOOM.
The formation of the Berbice Bridge Company was ,to a large extent, done with criminal intent :Pension funds from the National Insurance Scheme were unlawfully used to complete the project . The Gov’t buying the NIS share in this Company and then subsidising the toll make very very little advancement in terms of helping to eradciate corruption. Instead this act compliments criminality in” High Place” . It strenghtens and makes the illegal intent heathy at the same time confuses the general populaton …….
It’s barn yard runing this land that’s we called Guyana
The APNU/AFC believes in Dictatorship rather than Leadership! This party cannot lead the people to success! The have no clue how to develop the economy, no clue how to stop the crime spree! Yet, you have the same ministers making stupid decisions based on their OLD-style way of life/EGO. Its like comparing a flip phone to an IOS operating system….the APNU is stuck in the flip phone mode! Soon it will come out that the force these guys to reduce the tolls and send them to bankruptcy to fool the public! Similar to Ramjattan stating that Rum drinking is the cause for crimes….I wonder if the thieves does be drunk? Can someone educate this fool? Wait….Brain cells are too old, information will be hard to retain!