Page One Comment

Irrespective of the callous plan of the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) to impose draconian increases for the crossing of the Berbice Bridge, there can be no justification for the government’s seizure of the structure yesterday. It constitutes a baseless act of compulsory acquisition of property.

The seizure of the bridge will roil the investment climate and make it even more difficult for the government to attract buyers for the sugar estates and to mobilise investors in other sectors of the economy – even oil and gas.

What makes the seizure of the bridge even more galling is the absence of any credible attempt by the government to negotiate an end to the original impasse with BBCI failing which it still would have had recourse to compulsory acquisition. There is no evidence that the government was prepared to even consider the terms presented to it. Indeed, in an act of gross duplicity, while assuring that Cabinet would be apprised of the offer of BBCI at tomorrow’s meeting, the government was preparing to seize the bridge.

The conditions attending compulsory acquisition are set out in Article 142 of the Constitution. Given the long, sordid history of the use of this weapon under PNC rule, it behoves the APNU+AFC government to adhere to the constitutional stipulations in regard to this matter and to uphold the rights of BBCI. It should bring an end to this takeover of private property as soon as possible.