Following much anticipation by residents of Region One (Barima-Waini) for more accessible water-based transport, Government earlier this week announced that two companies have been identified to construct a ferry to ply the Georgetown-North West route, Region one, Barima Waini.
For the past several months, Government has been engaging in lengthy discussions with two India-based companies to finalise details for constructing of an ocean-going vessel that residents would utilise.
The two companies were announced as Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE) and SHOFT Ship-yard Pvt Ltd.
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon updated members of the media, revealing that the vessel’s construction was closer to reality as the company has already been identified.
“It takes a little bit of time from actual conceptualisation of a project to funding for it, so it would have gone through several phases and now a company has been identified to construct the ferry,” Harmon noted.
The new vessel will be an addition to MV Barima and Lady North Cote which ply the route.
These vessels date back to Guyana’s colonial pre-1966 era but MV Barima was recently refurbished.
The Indian Government has committed US$18 million for the ferry. Of this amount, US$8 million will be a grant, while the remaining $10 million will be a line of credit to be repaid within 20 years, with a five-year grace period.
Over the years, residents have been complaining about the negative impact of the ferry service on their lives and livelihoods.
Back in January 2015, former President Donald Ramotar had secured the funding while attending the 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Guj-rat, India. He had a meeting on the sidelines with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during which the commitment was made. Modi will soon visit Guyana.
Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Venkatachalam Mahalingam told reporters in March that Government was working to finalise the specifications of the ferry.
“They have to finalise the specifications of the ferry, and then one of the companies will be given the bid to manu-facture the ocean-going vessel,” the Indian diplomat explained.
It was in January 2012 that two Chinese-made vessels were handed over to Guyana to ply various routes in Essequibo.
