| DIASPORA LOOKING INBy Ralph SeeramWe arrived at Rosignol around 10 a.m. travelling on the road. Approaching the Rosignol Stelling ahead I can see the “ferryboat” docked at stelling. “Look like we will make the boat,” I remarked to the taxi driver. He retorted, “Nah. This is a 5 o clock crossing”.I then realized that we had to join the long line of cars and trucks which stretched for about a quarter mile. We had to join the back of the line.Now it took me about nine hours travelling time to get from my home in Florida to Guyana, and this little mile wide expanse of water will take almost the same time to cross.As I pondered on this irony, my friend who joined me in Georgetown for the trip to Berbice, assured me that we do not have a problem. He left for the stelling, came back about fifteen minutes later, told the driver to drive up to the gate; a gentleman opened the gate and we were first in line to cross.I subsequently learnt that it was called “priority crossing”. It came with a “fee” of US$15. Ok! Let’s call it for was it was; it was a bribe. Don’t ask me who it went to,Cheap Basketball Jerseys, that was more than three years ago.During that period there were plans to bridge the Berbice River and I recalled the Berbice Chamber of Commerce voicing their displeasure about the location of the Bridge claiming the new bridge will put New Amsterdam at a disadvantage economically.Now as someone whose “navel string bury in New Amsterdam”, this got my attention, so when President Bharrat Jagdeo visited Orlando some years ago I took the opportunity to ask him for an explanation. The President pointed out that if he were to build the bridge further up the Berbice River the government would have to build a new road going up the West Bank of the Berbice River past Ithaca, and also from the East Bank of the Berbice River to the Corentyne Road.This would add another forty minutes to the trip,Jerseys NFL China, in addition to the manpower and gasoline that would be wasted. The President’s arguments made perfect sense and I totally agreed with him.Fast forward to January of this year. I made a trip New Amsterdam crossing the new bridge. Now I have read a lot of criticism of the bridge, how it is not “ascetic” and so forth. Well it’s functional,Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic, convenient, encourages more travelling and generating more economic activity.Given the choice of a seven-hour wait and a five-minute crossing, you know what the choice would be. If I were the President I would have named this bridge after myself, (I guess Ralph Ramkarran will have to do it) after all,Cheap Jerseys Supply, a few years from now it probably will be the only visible monument to his tenure as President.Jagdeo Berbice Bridge; Bharrat Bridge; Bharrat Jagdeo Bridge, take your pick the man deserves some credit. This brings me to the subject matter of this article.When you plan a project such as this bridge you do not just plan to build the bridge,NFL Jerseys China, you plan for the ancillary services that would complement the bridge. By this I mean, both ends of the Bridge should have a terminal with amenities along with a large parking lot so buses, taxis and cars can park.The point of course is that it is a transhipment point and it should be built for the convenience of the travelling public. It seems to me that this bridge was built for the public to cross and that’s it.Case in point. Last January,Jerseys NFL Cheap, I saw cars parking along the Palmyra entrance of the bridge waiting for passengers, parking on the shoulders of the road, because no parking lot was planned.On my last visit I saw no cars or minibuses and on inquiring was told that the police had removed them.My information is that when one crosses the bridge and would like to travel to the Corentyne, you have to go back to New Amsterdam to join a minibus or taxi then travel back passing the very entrance of the bridge on way to the Corentyne. What madness!! Who is the idiot that planned this bridge? Why is the police removing minibuses and taxis that park at the Palmyra entrance of the bridge? Is this an order from the “hammer”? Who is the idiot? This directly contradicts the President’s arguments for locating the bridge where it now stands. We are (I am still a Berbician) wasting manpower, time and gasoline on this nonsensical exercise, to use the President’s logic.So President Jagdeo, I know you are a “man of your word” to put it in Guyanese parlance. Go back to your original arguments for the bridge and correct this situation. Build a rest stop terminal with amenities and a parking lot for the travelling public.By the way, how many people and how often do people go to a motoring tract, that $40 million for the Guyana Motor Racing tract will be better spent here, not to mention the benefits for the thousands that travel daily.Remember Bharrat; years from now when they are relaxing in your terminal enjoying some refreshments, watching your portrait on the wall, they will be thanking you profusely for the Bharrat Jagdeo Bridge. |
