Still no solution over proposed increase in Berbice Bridge tolls

Despite the intervention of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), who sought to bring Finance Minister Winston Jordan to the table with the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) to discuss impending toll increases, these overtures have been snubbed.
This is according to Vice Chairman of the BBCI, Paul Cheong, who in a statement on Tuesday took sections of the media to task for misrepresenting the facts of the company. For one, the Bridge Company outlined that there is no majority shareholder but rather, six investors have either 20 or 10 per cent shareholding.
“It would be of interest to the public to know that BBCI asked the Private Sector Commission to use its good office to arrange an urgent meeting with the Minister of Finance in the matter of the toll adjustment and that the Minister of Finance has refused to entertain the request,” the company stated.
The Bridge Company meanwhile noted that the BBCI shareholding is structured with the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) having a 20 per cent ownership, with G$80 million in ordinary shares. NIS also has G$950 million in preference shares.
“The NIS is not the majority shareholder,” the company stated. “No single shareholder owns the majority of shares. In an eight-person Board of Directors, six are ordinary shareholders, including the NIS, one is a preferential shareholder and one subordinated loan holder, including the NIS. The last two categories have no general voting rights.”
“The six ordinary shareholders are not guaranteed a return on their investment. Their investments are subjected to the risk of the company making a profit and cash flow availability. Since BBCI has made no profit, no dividends have been paid to any of the shareholders,” the company further outlined.
In an engagement with the media only a few days ago, Minister Jordan was asked whether he had had engagements with the BBCI. In his response, he had revealed that he had interactions with PSC on the matter.
Petty politicking
Last week, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) had been very critical of the Government for its less than mature approach to resolving the proposed toll increases.
FITUG had stressed that Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) supplies the entire country with agriculture produce and thus, higher tolls would result in higher prices for groceries. The Union had therefore noted the seriousness of the situation, from both the economic point of view and the future of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).
The Union noted that the coalition Government was elected to lead and should therefore demonstrate genuine leadership and end the “petty politicking” by sitting with BBCI executives without further delay and engaging in sober discussions on measures to avoid the toll rise.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo also said the toll increases seemed to have come as a result of collusion between Government and the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI). He is of the firm view that this would most likely lead to the Government acting as the “knight in shining armour” who steps in and saves the day by blocking the increases.
Several stakeholders, economists, civil society and even some shareholders have been calling for a full buyout of the bridge by Government to bring a permanent resolution to the issue.
The increases in tolls were announced by BBCI Chairman, Dr Surendra Persaud, during a press conference recently. According to Persaud, they were formally informed by Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson that Government would not agree to their previous requests for an increase.
As per the increases, cars and minibuses will now be charged G$8040; pickups, small trucks and four wheel drive vehicles, G$14,600; medium trucks, G$27,720; large trucks, G$49,600; art trucks, G$116,680; freight, G$1680 and boats passing through the river will be charged G$401,040.
The ownership structure of BBCI is made up of ordinary share capital of G$400 million owned by private investors and preference shares of G$950 million owned by NIS. The holders of the ordinary shares are NIS, Queens Atlantic Inc and Secure International Finance Company, Hand-in-Hand and Demerara Contractors.