> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # At the Old Rate, Buying the Bridge Cost G$400 Million to Save G$159 Million. - URL: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/berbice-bridge-400-million-to-save-159-million-old-toll-rate-2026/ - Published: 2026-11-09T23:10:51.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-12T18:51:29.000Z - Description: The Minister of Public Works told the National Assembly that buying the Berbice bridge would cost the Treasury less than continuing to pay. The payments he measured against had risen from G$215.2 million in 2024 to G$1.015 billion in 2025, an increase of 372 per cent. - Author: Theon Alleyne - Tags: Guyana, Public Finance, Infrastructure, Business, Beat: economics, MSME: indirect **Quick summary:** The Minister of Public Works told the National Assembly that buying the Berbice bridge would cost the Treasury less than continuing to pay. The payments he measured against had risen from G$215.2 million in 2024 to G$1.015 billion in 2025, an increase of 372 per cent. Measured at the old rate, the comparison turns the other way. By LCN Business Desk The Minister of Public Works measured the purchase against payments that had risen from G$215.2 million in 2024 to G$1.015 billion. That reason depends entirely on how much it was paying. **Four things happened, in this order.** \> **One.** The bridge was going to belong to Guyana on 12 June 2027\. At no cost. That was the deal from the start. \> **Two.** The government stopped the tolls 680 days before that date. The owners could no longer collect. So the government began paying them instead. \> **Three.** Those payments grew from G$215 million a year to over G$1 billion. \> **Four.** The government then said those payments were the reason to buy the owners out. It paid G$400 million on 16 September 2026, 269 days before the bridge was free anyway. \> **WHY PAY FOR A BRIDGE THAT YOU WERE GOING TO GET FOR FREE?** ## What reason did the government give? That buying would cost less than continuing to pay. Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill told the National Assembly in March 2026 that "what it will be costing the Treasury for the acquisition of the bridge would be less than if we have to pay toll between now and next year, based upon the figures I'm looking at." Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced the purchase on 17 September 2026, on his Facebook page. He put the price at about five per cent of the bridge's original G$8 billion cost. ## How much were the payments before? G$215.2 million a year. Then they went up 372 per cent. The 2024 figure for subsidies and contributions to the bridge company was G$215.2 million. The 2025 National Budget set aside G$1.015 billion. Minister Edghill [explained the rise to the Committee of Supply on 31 January 2025](https://newsroom.gy/2025/01/31/as-bridges-become-toll-free-major-budgetary-increase-for-berbice-bridge-company/?ref=lacaribenanews.com), answering questions from opposition parliamentarian David Patterson. He said the money would first subsidise travel costs, then support toll-free travel. The government pays, he said, because the bridge is a private venture. His words on how the figure was set: "This figure is as a result of watching the traffic flows and anticipating that at the end of August the toll-free regime will roll in." ## What does the comparison look like at the old rate? It turns the other way. There were 269 days between the payment on 16 September 2026 and 12 June 2027, when the bridge was due to become Guyana's. At the 2024 rate of G$215.2 million a year, 269 days of payments comes to about G$159 million. The sum is G$215.2 million divided by 365, multiplied by 269. The price was G$400 million. So at the old rate, the purchase costs about G$241 million more than simply carrying on until the bridge arrived. The comparison only favours buying once the higher figure is used. ### Why pay for a bridge you were going to get for free? ## Was the increase ever costed in the budget? Not in the document the public reads. Budget at a Glance 2025 lists the government's cost-of-living measures. The abolition of bridge tolls is one of them. It says tolls will go "upon completion of the new Demerara Harbour Bridge," covering the Berbice River Bridge and the Wismar Bridge, to the benefit of "over 50,000 daily commuters." It gives no cost for that measure. The measures beside it are all costed. Fuel at G$90 billion a year. Freight at G$6 billion. Part-time jobs at G$11 billion. Water subsidies at G$298.1 million. Electricity subsidies at G$882 million. The G$1.015 billion is not in that document at all. It appears in the Estimates, and it came out because an opposition member asked. ## What is the one thing we still cannot see? The agreement itself. One document decides whether this was a saving or a waste. It is the Concession Agreement. Government auditors asked for it in 2015 and were told it was not available. It has still not been published. Whether the government had to pay the owners anything when it stopped the tolls is in that agreement. So is whether any lender had a claim on the bridge itself. The law allowed such claims from the start. Section 7 of the Berbice River Bridge Act 2006 says the agreement shall provide terms that let the company "enter into fixed and floating charges with respect to any of its property, as collateral security for project loans." Whether any lender took one, and over what, is in the agreement and nowhere else. Until it is published, the arithmetic above is the best any member of the public can do. The date the bridge was due to arrive is set out in [why Guyana paid for a bridge it was getting free](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/why-pay-for-a-bridge-guyana-was-getting-free-berbice-2026/). The 2018 order that moved the work to the Government is set out in [what the official record holds](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/government-took-over-berbice-bridge-2018-still-paid-400-million-2026/). ### Why pay for a bridge you were going to get for free? ### The entities \- **Juan Edghill** is the Minister of Public Works, who gave the reason to the National Assembly. - **Bharrat Jagdeo** is the Vice President, who announced the purchase on 17 September 2026\. - **David Patterson** is the opposition parliamentarian whose questions produced the G$1.015 billion figure. - **Committee of Supply** is where the Estimates are examined. - **Budget at a Glance 2025** is the public summary that lists the toll abolition with no cost. - **Concession Agreement** is the document that has never been published. ### What the title card says \- Headline: at the old rate, buying the bridge cost G$400 million to save G$159 million. - Payments to the bridge company in 2024: G$215.2 million. - Allocation in the 2025 National Budget: G$1.015 billion. - The increase: 372 per cent. - Days between the payment and the bridge arriving: 269\. - 269 days of payments at the 2024 rate: about G$159 million. - Paid for the shares: G$400 million. - Difference at the old rate: about G$241 million more than carrying on. ## Frequently Asked Questions What reason did the government give for buying the bridge? Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill told the National Assembly the acquisition "would be costing the Treasury less than if we have to pay toll between now and next year." How much had the payments risen? From G$215.2 million in 2024 to G$1.015 billion in the 2025 National Budget, an increase of 372 per cent. What is the comparison at the old rate? 269 days at the 2024 rate of G$215.2 million a year is about G$159 million. The price was G$400 million, about G$241 million more. Was the toll abolition costed in the budget summary? No cost is given for it in Budget at a Glance 2025, while the measures listed beside it carry costs ranging from G$298.1 million to G$90 billion. What would settle it? The Concession Agreement, which would show whether the government owed the owners anything when it stopped the tolls. It has not been published.