Guyana decides that Guyana/Suriname Bridge will be placed at Moleson Creek

The Guyana Government has begun the process of building a bridge across the Corentyne River to link Guyana and Suriname. Advertisements for bids to construct  bridges along the access road to the main bridge have been placed in a Guyana newspaper. An advertisement in the state-owned Guyana Chronicle last week invited bids for the project which will be done under the Ministry of Public Works’ Capital Bridges Programme.

President Bouterse and President Ramotar

The Invitation For Bids (IFB) said that the construction period for the bridges is to be 40 weeks.

Bids open on December 2.

Geoffrey Vaughn, Coordinator of the Works Services Group of the Ministry,said

Guyana has already decided that the bridge will be built in the vicinity of the Moleson Creek stelling, Corentyne, Berbice, which currently has a ferry operating between the two countries.Suriname is still finalizing details on where the bridge will be anchored on the eastern side. One proposed location is President Desi BouterseSouth Drain, Suriname to Parrot Island to mainland Guyana.

Takutu Bridge Guyana /Brazil

The idea for the bridge was developed after a visit to by Surinamese President, Desi Bouterse, in September 2010.

Earlier this year, Guyana Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, said that the Chinese Government will finance the construction of the bridge through a joint loan to the two countries.

This loan will be part of the US$3B in loans to 10 Caribbean nations, that was announced by Chinese President, Xi Jinping in 2013.

 

China's President with Trinidad and Tobago PM

Both Guyana and Suriname are working to link their countries to Brazil and South America. Guyana has recently linked to Brazil with a bridge across the Takutu River.

With a bridge connecting Guyana and Brazil at Takutu, Region Nine, a link with Suriname has been seen as  a massive step for the integration of South America.

In 2010, Suriname’s then Minister of Public Works Ramon Abrahams signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with two Chinese companies: Cheng Don International and China Harbor, for US$6 billion worth of investments. Other projects include the construction of a new deep-sea harbor, a sea dam from Albina to Nickerie, a new highway from Paramaribo to the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, and 8,000 low-income houses.

"The idea of linking Suriname to its neighbors is part of the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America," Mr. Abrahams  said.

According to Abrahams financing from other Chinese sources will go towards building bridges that will span the Corentyne and the Marowijne rivers, which form the natural borders between Suriname and Guyana and Cayenne respectively.

Feasibility studies have already been conducted for the Corentyne River bridge .