After delivering the University of Guyana’s Vice Chancellor’s seventh Renaissance Lecture, Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Cui Jianchun, said that his country has no interest in the current design of the new Demerara Bridge, adding that it was far from a 21st Century design.
He made the statement while responding to questions after delivering the Renaissance Lecture on the topic “A new era for China and China-Guyana Relations.” He noted that infrastructure was a critical part of any country’s development, adding that the Chinese Government was committed to investing in the development of Guyana.
“Frankly speaking, I am not interested in the current design of the Demerara Bridge, because I think that if we were building the bridge in the 1970, at that time, a bridge like that is okay, but now is the 21st century. We have modern design, modern technology, I know there is constraint for this bridge, but I think that really we need a 21st Century design,” the Ambassador said.
“I cannot interfere and say what kind of bridge you can build, but I think that from my perspective that really it is the 21st Century, so how can we build another floating bridge?” he questioned.
Ambassador Cui said that he related this to Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson at an earlier meeting, adding that no Chinese contractors have expressed any interest in the project yet.
“I am really concerned about Demerara Bridge…so frankly speaking, I have talked to the Minister of Public Infrastructure, but I cannot tell you the details, but I told them if we are still building a floating bridge, this is not 21st Century,” he reiterated.
“I once asked him: “How can we help?” This bridge is very important for developing the western part of the Demerara, so you just mentioned really the infrastructure is meaningful,” the Ambassador said in response to a question from the audience.
The diplomat urged the audience to do some research on the 55-kilometre Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, adding that the current design for the new Demerara Bridge was in no way 21st Century infrastructure. The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge is described as the longest cross-sea bridge, which consists of a series of three cable-stayed bridges and one undersea tunnel, as well as three artificial islands, spanning the Lingdingyang channel that connects Hong Kong with Macau and Zhuhai, three major cities on the Pearl River Delta in China.
Meanwhile, the proposed Demerara River bridge is approximately two kilometres north of the existing floating bridge, spanning Houston on the eastern bank of the Demerara River and Versailles on the western bank of the Demerara River. The new bridge will be an essential part of the road network and will also have a significant impact on marine traffic passing under the structure.
The project will see the construction of an approximately 1500-metre fixed bridge with a movable span and two approach roads of a total length of 600m. It is envisaged that the project will commence in 2018 and will be delivered in 2020.
