Gov’t must reduce inordinately high burden of crossing Berbice Bridge
Dear Editor,
I do not want to start an intercounty war, but the inordinately high disparity between the cost for crossing a car over the Berbice Bridge (now proposed at over $8,000) versus the $200 being paid for the Demerara Bridge is now over-bearingly obvious….and of course very hurtful.
Admittedly the Berbice Bridge is ‘privately-owned’ while the Government owns the Demerara Bridge. But, it is the Government in the final analysis that is responsible for transport by ‘public road, rail and ferry including bridges’, and if it cannot provide these directly, then the least it can do is to subsidise the privatelyowned bridge so that there is equity for all its citizens.
I plead with our Government to please consider how best it can reduce the inordinately high burden being suffered by citizens who must cross the Berbice Bridge. Minister Patterson’s advice that we should not pay the hiked-up cost is tantamount to saying that we should not use the Berbice Bridge which of course is impractical!
Yours faithfully, Nowrang Persaud
As I observe the latest hullabaloos over conflicts, integrity commissions, disclosures and that dysfunctional family tree, I ponder again as to why so many, sometimes, make life complicated and difficult. I am perplexed and alarmed. I can also treat myself to a rare display of condescension.
First, I heard that a heavy majority of senior public officials did not file required declarations with the Integrity Commission. I am confident that not a single one of them had anything to hide. Everything they did, still do, and own is known. They may think otherwise; but in this transparent (thank god for small mercies) fishbowl of a village, nothing is a secret, or remains that way for long. Trusted, reliable cousins-in-law whisper; little do they realize the reverberating range of their echoes. Cherished outside relations (not by biology) stand out for sudden eye-opening, sometimes jaw-dropping, always inexplicably mindboggling opulence. Except that it is not wholly inexplicable. Not by any stretch of the imagination; and