Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago set up company for regional ferry service

The Guyana government Friday said it would participate in a regional ferry service that would link the country with Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago.

“Yesterday, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, and Barbados formed a joint company that would work for the introduction of a ferry system for passenger and cargo between Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana and Barbados,” Guyanese president Irfaan Ali announced as the signing ceremony for a new US$35-million Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge in Region 10 (Upper Demerara- Berbice) to be constructed by the China Railway Construction Corporation.

Ali gave no further details regarding the ferry service even as regional countries have identified both sea and air transportation as a major constraint facing the regional integration movement, CARICOM (Caribbean Community), that has set itself a target of reducing its multi-billion-US-dollar food import bill by 25 percent by 2025.

In 2022, the CARICOM approached the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for funding to establish this intra-regional ferry service with the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) being tasked with ironing out a proposed roadmap study for a fast ferry service with an initial focus on trade between Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and Barbados. – (CMC)