The Governments of Guyana and Suriname are seeking to make headway in the Corentyne River bridge project, as Public Works Minister Juan Edghill engages his counterpart, Minister Riad Nurmohamed in the neighbouring Dutch-speaking nation.
On Monday, Edghill landed in Suriname with Chief Transport Planning Officer at the Public Works Ministry, Patrick Thompson.
The bridge will be built according to the Design Build Finance Operate Maintain model (DBFOM). This means that whichever company is contracted to build the bridge will be responsible for its design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance. It will also be constructed via a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
The bridge is one of the first agreements between President Irfaan Ali and Suriname’s President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, with both heads previously underscoring the critical role the bridge across the Corentyne River would play in advancing cooperation, creating more opportunities for development for both countries.
Last year, Minister Edghill was in Suriname to sign a ceremonial agreement between the two countries to kickstart plans for the massive project. The Surinamese Public Works Minister has positioned that with this important infrastructure in place, both countries will benefit from a tremendous spinoff as it opens South America.
President Ali had disclosed that the financial proposal for the new bridge across the Corentyne River would be out by the end of January, thus paving way for the tendering process and then the construction stage.
Back in May of 2022, a US$2 million contract was signed in Paramaribo for several preliminary studies and research to be conducted on the Corentyne bridge by WSP Caribbean. The Expressions of Interest (EoIs) were also simultaneously launched. Six international companies – five Chinese firms and one Dutch company from The Netherlands – had submitted bids for the construction of the Corentyne River bridge. The bids were opened at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) in Georgetown back in August.
Among the bidders were China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC); State-owned China Road and Bridge Cooperation (CRBC); China Gezhouba Group Company Limited in association with CEIG; China Overseas Engineering Group Co Ltd (COVEC) in association with China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co Ltd (CREEC), and China Railway First Group Co Ltd (CRFG); and China Railway Construction Caribbean Company Limited & China Railway Construction.
Meanwhile, Ballast Nedam, a construction company that is based in The Netherlands, was the lone non-Chinese company that submitted a bid for the project.
The high-span Corentyne River bridge will run approximately 3.1 kilometres, connecting Moleson Creek in Guyana to South Drain in Suriname with a landing on Long Island in the Corentyne River, where a commercial hub and tourist destination will be established. That free zone will see major infrastructural development such as hotels, recreational parks, entertainment spots, tourist attractions, malls, and farmers’ markets.
Running from Moleson Creek to Long Island, the bridge will be a low-level structure, approximately one kilometre long; with a 2200-metre (2.2 km) road across Long Island and a high bridge, spanning 2100 metres (2.1 km) thereafter. At the high end of the bridge, which will facilitate marine traffic, it will cater for 40,000 to 45,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) capacity featuring a vertical (height) clearance of 43 metres and a horizonal (width) clearance of about 100 metres.
