DHB employees will not be displaced with operation of new demerara river bridge – Min Edghill

– free tolls for Berbice and Wismar-Mackenzie bridges

Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, has assured that the 155 Guyanese employed under the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) will not be left without jobs when the new Demerara River Bridge becomes operational.

He gave this commitment in response to a question from Opposition MP David Patterson during the Parliamentary Committee of Supply’s consideration of the 2025 budget on Friday.

“This caring government will not throw any of them to the curb because of a new bridge. That is not in our DNA, it is not our modus operandi, it is not in our conscience. We are a caring government,” Minister Edghill assured the house.

He revealed that the matter had already been addressed with DHBC employees on the first working day of 2025. He also noted that the corporation has some of the country’s most skilled welders, whose expertise remains essential.

“Their services will always be needed. We are not at the stage of severance. They will continue to be employed somewhere. If we relocate the bridge, they will have to dismantle and reassemble it,” the minister explained.

The minister said at the right time, with policy direction from Cabinet, the government will engage the workers and their union to ensure there is no fear or unnecessary panic among these valued employees.

Free Tolls

The government has announced that tolls for other major bridges including the Berbice Bridge and the Wismar/Mackenzie Bridge will be removed this year.

To facilitate this transition, subsidies for the Berbice Bridge will increase from $215.2 million in 2024 to $1.015 billion in Budget 2025.

Minister Edghill explained that this allocation is based on projected traffic flow increases and the shift to a toll-free system.

Unlike the DHB, the Berbice Bridge is privately owned. It was briefly acquired under the APNU/AFC administration but later returned to private ownership by the PPP/C government.

Reaffirming the government’s stance on private sector development, Minister Edghill dismissed speculation about rising tolls noting that the $1.015 billion budgeted does not cater for any increase in tolls.

“So, if there is any jumby behind the bush that we are trying to pass on money to friends and family and so on. we are keeping faith with the people of Guyana at the same level, the same rate of what is being paid now,” he stated.

Currently, an average of 400,000 vehicles crosses the Berbice Bridge each month, totaling approximately 4.4 million annually.

This is expected to increase by 2.84 per cent, with an anticipated daily crossing of 13,210 vehicles.

Demerara Harbour Bridge

The government has also allocated $450 million for the maintenance of the DHB.

This includes procuring 116 anchor chains, fabricating 300 ten-foot deck plates, acquiring a patrol boat, rehabilitating 60 posts, and dredging and gantry works.

Minister Edghill dismissed concerns that the DHB would become obsolete once the new bridge is operational.

“The Demerara Harbour Bridge will not be scrap iron. There are places where the bridge can be used so it is not money that is being thrown in the fire, it is to keep it going and to ensure that when we have to move it elsewhere we have a proper bridge,” he affirmed.