New Demerara River Bridge contract to be signed soon

Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill assured on Monday that a contract for the
construction of a New Demerara River Bridge will be signed soon.
The minister said that the announcement follows the ‘no objection’ by Cabinet back in
November, for China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd. to construct the bridge at
a cost of some $51.2B. “At this stage, a specially appointed team is concluding the negotiations
and all the administrative details to prepare for the signing of the contract for the new Demerara
Harbour Bridge. Between the week before Christmas and today, six such meetings were held and
the sun is getting ready to shine brightly because we should have a final contract agreed on in the
very shortest possible time,” Edghill explained.
He disclosed that the new bridge forms part of government’s drive to expand and modernise
Guyana’s transport infrastructure. The new bridge, the minister said will replace the aged
Demerara Harbour Bridge with a modern four-lane structure that will facilitate greater traffic
capacity and dramatically improve commuter convenience. The public works minister noted that
government is investing heavily in keeping afloat the old Demerara Harbour Bridge, which he
argued was neglected by the APNU/AFC Administration. Edghill stressed that it was a disaster
waiting to happen, that would have displaced thousands of Guyanese who use the bridge daily.
“Budget 2021 catered for the rebuilding of a new span nine and for repairs to spans nine and ten
as a temporary model…while we are building the new high- span, four lane Demerara Harbour
Bridge which we expect to be completed in two years, between that two-year period, we need to
keep this current bridge operable,” Edghill noted.
Meanwhile, General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, Wayne Watson said the $1.2B
project is expected to be completed soon. “It was scheduled to finish in December 2021, but
because of consideration for users, we are now projecting somewhere between April. In order to
replace span nine, the rehabilitation work of both span nine and 10 must be completed which will
require some closure of the bridge. The total closure to do the rehabilitation is 16, six-hour
closures, to date we have only done five,” Watson said.
However, the minister revealed that the old bridge will not be pushed in a corner and left to rot
upon completion of the new bridge. “Sections of the bridge can be used. It can be used in the
Kwakwani crossing, it can be used in several parts of the hinterland, maybe some of it can be
used at Kurupukari but we are looking at more permanent infrastructure for the Linden-Lethem
Road… “I can tell you it would not be old iron pushed in a corner. It would be properly used for
the development of Guyana,” he explained.