Guyana and Indian have signed a US$12.7M contract for the construction of a new ferry to ply the Georgetown/North West route, replacing the MV Kimbia which is in poor condition.
A simple signing ceremony was hosted at the Ministry of Public Works on Wednesday. Present were Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill; High Commissioner of India to Guyana, Dr. K. J. Srinivasa; General Manager of Transport and Harbours Department, Marclene Merchan and the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Vladim Persaud.
The contract has been awarded to the Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers Ltd., a shipbuilding company in India, for the total sum of $US12,733,403. The ferry is expected to be delivered within 18 months and will provide larger cargo capacity, shorter travel time and safer and more comfortable travel.
An advance payment of 20 percent or US$2.2M will be made to company in January. Later in 2021, 40 percent of the contract value will be dispersed during various stages of construction totaling US$5.2M. The final 40 percent of the contract valuing US$5.2M will be disbursed in 2022 upon receipt and acceptance of the vessel in Guyana.
The MV Kimbia, which currently services the Georgetown to Region One route, is in dire need of repair. The vessel has existed for over 38 years with renovations overtime.
In his remarks, Minister Edghill said that signing represents strong diplomatic ties between the People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s (PPP/Cs) Administration and India. He informed the media that when former President Donald Ramotar left Office in 2015, he had already secured financing through a line of credit and concessional financing from the Government of India for the new ferry. However, he said that the APNU+AFC Administration did not act on this availability.
“The money for the ferry was available. We came back to office five years later [and] no contract was awarded and signed, no ferry was built and the monies [were] still available,” Edghill said, pointing out that it was through the leadership of President Irfaan Ali that the sum is now being put to good use.
He thanked the High Commissioner for the efforts on India’s part to ensure that the ferry project could commence along with others such as the solar panels for hinterland communities and the Ogle-East Bank bypass road.
Meanwhile, the High Commissioner of India said that he is pleased the project has been successfully revived after a long hiatus and he thanked the Minister and his team, along with those in India, for bringing it to fruition.
He informed the media that the project is part of a US$18M grant/line of credit. Out of it, some $8M was set aside as a grant as the remaining US$10 as line of credit. With US$12.7M being spent on the ferry, he said that discussions are now being had on how the remainder can be used perhaps to upgrade the stellings at both the arrival and departure ports.
