…T&HD pontoon to resume in 3 monthsMinister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn, met with angry West Berbicians at the Rosignol Ferry Stelling, yesterday to address the introduction of a speedboat service across the Berbice River.The Minister, along with Region Five Chairman, Harrinarine Baldeo, met and spoke with parents who depend on the ferry service to send their children to school in New Amsterdam and on those commuters who work in the town.Kaieteur News understands that the speedboat, which has been in operation for several weeks, makes about a dozen trips daily to shuttle mostly school children to school in New Amsterdam.Sources say that the number of trips has reduced this week since schools will be closing on Friday.Last Tuesday,Cheap Authentic Jerseys, parents of children attending school in New Amsterdam, and workers, staged a demonstration to demand safer traveling arrangement for their children across the Berbice River.“The vessel is fundamentally safe. It was tested out by the engineers from Maritime Administration. It has internal bulwarks; an inner transom, it has lifejackets and life- rafts.“We understand your anxiety because you are moving from a very large vessel, a very large platform which was very stable and fairly comfortable to transit the river and now you’re suddenly faced with a situation as it were, where you are moving to a small vessel,” Benn told the residents of Region Five.The speedboat, unlike the pontoon, cannot shuttle all of the school children across to New Amsterdam in one trip. There are about 300 school children who depend on the trip across the river to get to their respective schools.A television advertisement was paid for by “concerned parents of Region 5”, and referred to the speedboat service as “an accident waiting to happen”. It was aired last week on a TV station in New Amsterdam.The Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) had said in a press release that the MB Sandaka was replaced by the MV Alford C, a 14-seater speedboat to meet the transportation demands of persons traversing the Berbice River from Rosignol to New Amsterdam.”Benn ended his visit by telling the persons that the pontoon will be up and running again within three months.
