Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has said that if his party were to be returned to office at the next elections, the new Government it would form would scrap plans by the current People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government to make three major bridges across Guyana toll-free.
President Dr Irfaan Ali had announced last month that the new Demerara River Bridge and the new Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge, which are currently under construction, would be toll-free when completed. He had also revealed plans by the Government to acquire the existing Berbice River Bridge from the private investors and make that toll-free as well.
Norton, who is also Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – the largest party in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) faction of the Opposition Coalition – has said his party would not support any plan to make those bridges toll-free, but would instead work towards making local travel more affordable.
“I don’t think they did any (feasibility) study, and that is why we did not proceed to say that we would make (the bridges toll) free. In principle, we have developed a people-centred development strategy, and we have agreed that we will aim to put resources into the hands of the Guyanese people directly and indirectly. Making these bridges and so inexpensive will help, but we do not want to — without a feasibility study, and without actually knowing the cost etc. for maintenance — wildly just saying we will make it toll-free and it’s not based on any data that is useful,” he explained during a press conference on Friday.
Further, the Opposition Leader has accused the Government of wanting to financially starve the Mayor and Town Council of Linden by removing the toll from the Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge, which is a major revenue earner for that municipality.
“[At] the Wismar-Mackenzie Bridge, reducing the toll or making it toll-free, however, carries significant financial implications for the Linden municipality, as tolls are one of its main sources of revenue, contributing as much as G$70 million annually…As the next Government, we will compensate the Linden Municipality for the projected revenues it would forego when we reduce the tolls on the Wismar Bridge. In addition, all operating costs, including maintenance, will be the responsibility of the central government,” Norton posited.
Concerns have been raised about the Government’s toll-free initiative, especially as it relates to how these three bridges would be maintained. Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo had previously explained that the new bridges being constructed would be fixed concrete structures that do not require the level of maintenance as is required by the existing bridges.
“Every one of these bridges now will be four-lane concrete structures. Two are under construction…This is a 75-year-life bridge with little or no maintenance. You don’t have moving parts (to retract) anymore, so the cost of maintenance plummets…And it’s toll-free, so you don’t even have to put (staff) there because people would just drive across,” the VP had explained at a September 5 press conference.
But according to Norton on Friday, while Guyana now has ample oil resources, the country just cannot put up a network of bridges and make them all toll-free without any mechanism to maintain them. Rather, he contended, the country should use its oil wealth to reduce the burden on the travelling public – something that is outlined in his party’s national travel and transportation strategy.
“As the next PNCR/APNU government, we will make all travel in Guyana inexpensive as part of a comprehensive and integrated vision for transportation and movement of people, goods, services and data across the country… Guyanese must be able to travel conveniently and cheaply across the country by different modes of transportation. No one must be prevented from travelling because of inadequate transportation links, poor services, or the high cost of travel. We will also seek to minimize the cost of internal air flights without jeopardizing the profitability of private operators,” he said.
The Opposition Leader added that their strategy aims to connect the coast and the hinterland by creating an intercity highway network such as the Linden and New Amsterdam Road link – something which Jagdeo had already ridiculed by saying that many of these projects are already underway by the PPP/C Administration.
Moreover, Norton expressed suspicions in regard to the PPP/C’s toll-free initiative, claiming that the ruling party “…believes they will lose the next election.”
In fact, he is confident that the PNC-led APNU can, on its own, defeat the PPP/C at the 2025 polls.
He was at the time responding to a question about APNU’s coalition partner, the Alliance For Change (AFC), hinting that it could separately contest next year’s elections.
“We have had, and continue to have, a relationship with AFC. We believe we are better together, and we opt for a coalition; but we know we can mobilise and organise and beat the PPP. But we prefer to have coalition politics to widen the involvement and ensure a wider participation of people. In fact, we are looking to add other groups to the coalition, so that we could be a wider coalition base.” Norton has said.
The PNC-led APNU had coalesced with the AFC for the 2015 elections, which they won. The two parties then went back to the polls as a coalition in 2020, but lost. Subsequently, the AFC formally broke its coalition with APNU in December 2022. The revised Cummingsburg Accord, a political agreement between the two parties, had provided for this separation.
At the time, former AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan had indicated that the two parties would do their political work separately but work in Parliament jointly. The AFC is now under new leadership, and that minority Opposition party has said it is focusing on its political work for now, and would revisit coalition politics at the right time.
