Financing the bridge

In the heady days of November 2020 when the government had only been in office a few months and President Irfaan Ali was seeking to steer the country in novel directions, he met his Suriname counterpart President Chandrikapersad Santokhi in Paramaribo. There they agreed to bridge the Corentyne River and a MoU to that effect was duly signed during the visit by their respective Foreign Ministers. It subsequently emerged that the plan was to link the two nations between points close to the ferry stations at South Drain in Suriname and Moleson Creek on this side, and that the bridge would cross an islet in the river called Lange Island.

The two sides appeared in a hurry to move the project along, with Public Works Minister Juan Edghill in a rare burst of lyricism calling it not just a “physical connection between two landmasses” but a “social connection between two peoples.” His Suriname counterpart Dr Riad Nurmohamed more prosaically limited himself to saying, “Building the bridge is very high on the agenda for both countries.”

For all the apparent progress, there were still those with long memories who entertained a soupçon of scepticism about whether a bridge would materialise at all, or at least, whether it would do so in the kind of time-frame the two Presidents had in mind. After all, agreements with our neighbour are rarely implemented, the fishing accords representing one of the more recent examples of such derelictions. The one which did come to fruition was the Corentyne ferry, but that was only after years of delay caused by Suriname over issues which were not in the contract and could broadly be described as having possible implications for sovereignty. In the end it was Guyana which compromised so the ferry could become a reality.

Even as early as 2021, however, there were those who had doubts about the bridge on other grounds, namely whether it was financially viable. Engineer Mr Charles Sohan wrote: “An assessment of the traffic flow between Guyana and Suriname would indicate that the construction of a costly bridge across the Corentyne River would not be a viable project and large subsidies will be required to service the capital investment as well as for its operation and maintenance.”

No such reservation seems to have given the two heads of state pause for thought, and plans went ahead for construction via a Public-Private Partnership arrangement according to the Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain model. This would mean that the successful contractor would be responsible for the final design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the bridge, the Ministry of Works explained.

In June last year Trinidad-based consultants WSP Caribbean unveiled the design for the proposed bridge, although other elements of the project, such as cost, traffic projections, financial and economic evaluations, environmental assessment, legal framework and road design had at that stage still to be settled. Five companies pre-qualified as contractors/joint ventures, but in the end only two of these actually submitted bids last October to build the bridge. They were the Dutch company Ballast Nedam and the Chinese-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation, whose submissions on the Guyana side went to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.

Minister Edghill was reported as saying that both countries were hoping to have a contract in place by October last year, and that they would independently evaluate the bids following which they would meet to discuss them. Once they had selected the one they agreed was the most competitive, they would engage the contractor.

And there things appear to have stalled. At his end of the year press conference the Public Works Minister had a fair bit to say about the Corentyne, but that was in relation to the Canawaima Ferry, which he said had undertaken 538 round trips between January and November last year, had moved 14,466 vehicles across the river and transported some 88,005 passengers. Furthermore, he said, it was both efficient and profitable, having recorded a $46,214,782 profit.

Upgrading the ferry was what was now being looked at, with procuring a new engine being one of the improvements, along with the renovation of the loading ramp and the replacement of wooden rails with galvanised iron for safety and durability reasons. Travellers will also be relieved to learn that a new washroom set is to be constructed for incoming passengers.

If all that is good news for ferry commuters, what about the bridge? The little that can be gleaned is coming from east of the Corentyne, where it is being reported that the Public-Private Partnership model is now regarded as infeasible for the project. DWT, the Suriname daily has reported President Santokhi as conceding that this form of financing was not possible. Neither Ballast Nedam nor the China Road and Bridge Corporation were prepared to take on the pre-financing themselves because the risks were too great.

The daily also quoted Minister Edghill when giving an update on the progress of the bridge as referring to “the successful completion of the bid evaluation process”, but also mentioning that “Guyana and Suriname should jointly decide on the method of financing”. If the original finance plan is now to be abandoned, then what are the alternatives? President Santokhi has been reported as saying that the two governments must now start looking for external funding, but considering the estimated cost of the bridge would be about US$523 million, and Suriname’s economy is anything but stable, it is not easy to see where that level of financing would come from.

When President Santokhi met President Ali in 2020, his expectation was that the Suriname oil in coastal waters would start flowing that year, but it is now recognised that this will not happen before 2028. DWT quoted him as saying at the time, “With the future oil extraction, it is imperative that we get our infrastructure in order.” With maritime oil flowing on both sides of the Corentyne, the two leaders were probably thinking about all kinds of connections and traffic involving their industries, as well as between their two deep-water ports. Without the oil flowing on both sides, it has to be asked whether there will be enough traffic to make a bridge financially viable.

And since this is Suriname there are older, more familiar suspicions raising their heads. One complaint is that although this is a joint project, it is Guyanese who are taking the lead, and Suriname has had virtually no say in the design or even the location of the bridge. This sounds unlikely, and in any case no evidence has been offered to substantiate such an allegation. What it does indicate, however, is a certain reluctance at levels below the government to pursue the project.

One contributor, for example, said that Guyana was aware that Suriname needed the bridge more than it did, and this meant it could exploit the latter. His view was that if the bridge was not built now, it would give Suriname more time to look at it again in a few years’ time, and to do so on the basis of equality.

Whether the bridge goes ahead at this point in time or not, depends on whether there are lenders out there who will put up the money. In the meantime, at least ferry passengers can look forward to a somewhat improved service.