Ongoing repairs to the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) following last weekend’s collision have already racked up a bill of over $1 billion and according to Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, the company that owns the vessel will be held financially liable for the extensive works being carried out.
“It’s a billion and counting,” Edghill declared.
Asked about the company that owns the vessel being made to foot the repair bill, the Public Works Minister indicated that “…the Government of Guyana is very clear on this matter”.
In fact, he revealed that the Panamanian vessel – MV Trade Wind Passion – is currently being detained. “We’ve already done all the necessary legal paperwork. The ship is legally under arrest, because we’ve filed all the necessary paperwork,” he asserted.
During the retraction for marine traffic in the wee hours of Saturday, the fuel ship, which was transporting fuel to the Guyana Oil Company (GuyOil), crashed into the bridge. The damage to the critical structure was extensive with at least four spans and a pontoon affected.
At the time, the vessel was heading south and was the last of five vessels to cross through the bridge, which had to be out of commission over the weekend and opened on Tuesday to light vehicular traffic. A scheduled arrangement was subsequently put in place for vehicles carrying less than 18 tonnes as works continue on the bridge.
Giving an update on repairs to the bridge on Thursday, Minister Edghill was high in praise for the team working to get the structure back up and functional.
“As of this [Thursday] morning, while everybody is seeing traffic moving and flowing, they’re still working miracles below – changing out pontoons and doing all kinds of things while still facilitating the movement of people and goods to ensure that commerce and people keep moving. Those are things some engineers and technicians want the bridge to be closed to do. But with proper planning and putting heads together, we’ve been able to [open the bridge],” he related.
The Public Works Minister noted that only Thursday morning a repaired wrench was delivered by the contractor to the workers to be reinstalled as they prepare to resume retraction for marine traffic. According to Edghill, getting the bridge functional for vehicular traffic is just one aspect of the work that is being done.
“They have to get the bridge functional as well for marine traffic, because it must be able to do the retraction to allow for the passage of boats… We’re hoping to get our first retraction maybe [today] or Saturday and that is why it was important for us to get the wrench by [Thursday] morning so that it can be installed and tested … the rest of it. So, we may very well be able to have a retraction in another 24 to 36 hours,” he explained.
Minister Edghill further pointed out that while significant work has been conducted to get the bridge to a working stage, there was much more to be done. However, he could not give a timeline for these works to be completed and the DHB returned to normal operations.
“We’re working on everything to make that happen… It’s nowhere near the finish, but significantly advanced, great work is being done by the engineers and the contractors,” he stressed.
The Public Works Minister outlined that it was important to have the bridge reopened for vehicular traffic across the Demerara River, and even more important to restore retraction for the passage of traffic along the waterway.
In fact, he pointed to the disruption to certain operations that this situation has caused such as garbage collection services.
“Getting garbage to the dump site [in Region Four – Demerara-Mahaica] from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) was becoming a major crisis. In fact, one service provider sent me a notice that they may very well be putting in a claim; it cost them $3 million to get a pontoon to bring their trucks from Parika to Kingston,” Edghill disclosed.
Meanwhile, immediately following the collision, a Board of Inquiry (BoI) was set up by the government to look into the incident. According to the Minister, the BoI members started working in the wee hours of Sunday into late hours of the day. So far, they have taken statements and spoken to more than 35 individuals.
“They had seven days to compile their report and as of [Thursday], they are on schedule and I think I should be receiving that report soon,” Edghill told the media.
Following the incident, local authorities conducted drug and alcohol tests on the boat pilot and the results were negative. Reports that the crew was sleeping at the time of the accident had also been debunked by the Minister previously.
In the meantime, the Panamanian fuel ship remains in Port Georgetown pending the outcome of the investigation and the completion of repairs to the bridge.
Over the weekend, President Dr Irfaan Ali inspected works being done on the bridge and reiterated that efforts would be taken to revise guidelines used by vessels to traverse the opened Harbour Bridge during retraction.
“We also have to relook now at the guidelines. We have bigger ships coming in. We have faster vessels. And the bridge, really, is being nursed along at this stage in the bridge’s life. And we can’t every time there’s an impact – and this is one of the worst impacts we’ve ever had, when this happens then (it impacts) the fragility of the bridge, it needs continuous maintenance… But one of the things with the frequent hitting of the bridge is that it is actually devouring all our spare capacity. So, these are the challenges,” the Head of State said.
President Ali further indicated that Government would be expediting works on the new Demerara River Bridge so as to ease the burden that the current structure places on commuters.
Back in May, a US$260 million contract for the new bridge across the Demerara River, which was awarded to a joint venture led by China Railway and Construction Corporation (International) Limited, was signed.
The new bridge will be a fixed 2.65-kilometre four-lane high-span cable-stayed structure across the Demerara River and will feature a bicycle lane. It will also bring an end to closures to vehicular traffic with a 50-metre fixed high span to cater for the free flow of vessels uninterrupted.
Back in November 2021, Cabinet granted its no objection for the Chinese company to construct the bridge using a Design-Build-Finance (DBF) model. The bridge will land aback Nandy Park, East Bank Demerara (EBD), on the eastern side, and at La Grange, West Bank Demerara (WBD) on the western side.
