As bridges become toll-free, major budgetary increase for Berbice Bridge Company

Three major bridges should become toll-free this year and to prepare for that move, the government has substantially increased the budgetary allocation for the Berbice Bridge Company Inc.

In 2024, subsidies and contributions to the Berbice Bridge Company totaled $215.2 million. That figure has ballooned to $1.015 billion in the 2025 National Budget.

It was Opposition Parliamentarian David Patterson who quizzed Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill about this increase during the consideration of the estimates in the Parliamentary Committee of Supply on Friday.

Edghill explained that the government subsidises the cost of travel across the Berbice Bridge, as this is a private venture. So every year, funds are allocated to the Bridge Company.

It is, however, expected that this bridge- alongside the new Demerara River Crossing and the Wismar/ Mackenzie Bridge- will become toll-free later this year. This was announced by President Dr Irfaan Ali in August 2024.

So Edghill explained that the $1.015 billion sum is to first subsidise the cost of travel and then cater to toll-free travel.

“This figure is as a result of watching the traffic flows and anticipating that at the end of August [when the new Demerara River Bridge should be completed], the toll-free regime will roll in,” Edghill said.

Patterson pressed Edghill on how this sum was derived, asking whether the government used current travel figures to determine how much money would be needed.

Edghill responded in the affirmative and noted that an average of 400,000 vehicles used the Berbice Bridge monthly in 2024. And about 4.4 million vehicles used it for the entire year.

However, Edghill said the government is anticipating that the bridge will be used more frequently once it becomes toll-free. So the government also accounted for that, he said.