Online booking for Essequibo ferry service to come on stream soon
Persons using the Essequibo ferry service will soon be able to book their tickets online ahead of traveling.
This was announced by Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill on Tuesday as he commissioned the 82 million stelling at Fort Island.
“The next thing that we need to do to bring ease to people is to implement online booking, so people no longer have to be fighting for who is first and who is second,” Edghill said.
He explained that between now and September, with the experts and skillset, the online portal should be up and running by September 1.
The ferry service is scheduled to make about three scheduled trips daily, but would sometimes have to make five or six trips due to the travel demand.
This can all change once the online service is implemented. The online portal will be implemented by the Transport and Harbours Department and forms part of the government’s plans to modernise Guyana.
“Modernisation is something that is important, so online booking is the next major thing that needs to happen,” Edghill stated.
The online ferry portal follows complaints from travellers about hours of waiting and being left stranded because the vessels can only accommodate about 45 vehicles.
With the online portal, Edghill said, “we will be able to judge on a daily basis how many trips we could make; if we have excessive booking because something is happening on a particular day, we would be able to notify [travellers] and maybe we will be able to put on an additional trip.”
For the country’s Independence Day flag-raising ceremony being held in Region Two, a special ferry service will be in place.
After completing the daily scheduled trips, the ferry will leave Parika Stelling at 19:30hrs on Wednesday and once the celebrations are over, the ferry will leave Supenaam at 01:30hrs on Thursday.