The Berbice Bridge toll

The legitimacy or otherwise of the adjusted toll rates recently announced for the Berbice Bridge aside, there are, as every rational thinking person would agree, other considerations which are at least of comparable importance.

It would, for example, be foolhardy to cast aside the threat of bankruptcy argument which the Berbice Bridge Company is making in seeming defence of the new proposed toll or for that matter the relevance of a realistic correlation between the toll charged for use of the bridge and the cost of maintenance and repairs. The equally plain truth is, of course, that other difficult implications attend the proposed hike, not least the plain and irrefutable truth that in most instances, what is being proposed is likely to be beyond the reach of the bridge users.

It strains credulity to believe that whatever justification the Board may have for the new rates, they would not have anticipated that what they are proposing would be unaffordable and that it would inevitably have to face a robust official and popular ‘pushback’ given the sheer extent of the proposed increase. We are, on account of those numbers, faced with the options of (a) imposing the increases and having to confront problems that are likely to include significant loss of income, greatly increased costs of goods and services and almost certainly considerable public protest with all of its political and other implications or (b) having government (as it says it will) step in to veto the intended toll hikes,

The sheer extent of the percentage increase in the respective tolls raises the issue as to whether this may not have been the opening gambit in an attempt at negotiation with government with regard to arriving at just where the level of the toll would be. Perhaps the Bridge Board might even have anticipated some sort of subsidy to enable the return to the shareholders to approach at least what it would be if the toll were implemented. Accordingly, it is not unreasonable to assume that prior to the envisaged implementation date for a new toll structure the ‘ball game’ would have changed considerably and we will be placed in a zone of greater reasonableness and outside of the realm of the pseudo-brinkmanship that now obtains.

Without prejudice to the rationale for arrival at the Bridge Board’s numbers, they are, all things considered, a mind-numbing imposition which appears to take no account of the circumstances of the bridge users in the context of the ability of many if not most of them to pay. The reality is that the imposition of a level of toll even close to the existing ‘numbers’ would impose a level of hardship and inconvenience and social backlash that would, in the eyes of those who now use it, reduce the importance of what, doubtless, is a critical piece of developmental infrastructure. company has become is attributable to significant incremental investments in adding value to the establishment by continually modernizing its operations.

In January 2013 Mohammed made his most significant investment in the establishment so far, creating a new processing plant equipped with what the company says was “the most advanced tools and equipment for poultry processing.” March 2014 saw another major investment by the company, this time in a modern hatchery.

Not unmindful, Baksh says, of the critical importance of ‘health and wellness’ as a priority operational concern, Mohammed has invested in the recruitment of specialist veterinarian support from both within and outside the region. Aiming for ISO certification as one of its next major targets the company has subjected its operations to regular inspection by the Guyana Livestock Development Authority. (GLDA).

Seemingly on its way to becoming a well-integrated operation Mohamed’s Farm has set its sights on the establishment of its own feed-production operation

If all of this might be construed in some quarters as reflective of an absence of mindfulness of the well-being of the Berbice Bridge Company Inc. that is hardly the case. It is simply a matter of one of those instances where hard, cold reality demands that a generous dose in realism be infused into the situation. Insofar as the extent of the current proposed toll is concerned (again all things considered) it is wildly unrealistic. which Baksh says will serve to further enhance the reliability of the overall operation.

Keen to meet the particular demands of what, these days, is a widely varied chicken market, Royal Chicken, whole chicken aside, offers up to fourteen different cuts including quartered chicken, heavily demanded in the popular barbecue sector, breasts (with or without bone) as well as what one might call routinely consumed chicken parts, including drumsticks, thighs, liver and gizzard and feet. Additionally, Royal Chicken’s Jumbo Packs appear ideal for dinner parties and family feed-ups. Mindful too, of the varied nature of its market, Royal Chicken offers chicken particularly prepared to Halal requirements.

Like most businesses in many of the country’s key economic sectors, Royal Chicken’s operations are constantly vulnerable to the vagaries of what, over the years, has been a dangerously unreliable electricity supply system; so that while the company utilizes power from the national grid it has understandably installed its own electricity generating system to protect its chickens which, alive or slaughtered, are vulnerable to even relatively short spells of power outage.

Mindful, Baksh says, to place a mark of modernity on its operations, Mohamed Farm’s next major project is a multi -million dollar investment in the conversion of the company’s operations from the conventional open house confinement to the contemporary Tunnel House penning. The plan is to create fifty such facilities each with a capacity to accommodate 40,000 birds. The company has already created two Tunnel Houses and are, even now, in the process of creating a further two as it moves in the direction of full conversion.