Manama: Authorities at the King Fahad Causeway linking Bahrain with Saudi Arabia have dismissed crossing fee increase claims as "adolescents' BlackBerry abuse."
"We have no plans to increase the 2 Bahraini Dinar fee to cross the causeway from or to either country," Fahad Al Atishan, the deputy head of the King Fahad Causeway Authority, said.
"We are aware of the 75 per cent hike claim made on websites and mobile phones, but they are baseless and nothing more than abuses by teenagers of BlackBerry facility to communicate," he said.
Fees for cars crossing the 25-kilometre causeway between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have remained unchanged since the terrestrial link was opened in November 1986.
"The hike claims coincided with the announcement of plans to expand the Causeway and increase its handling capacity. We have allocated a special budget and there are no plans to generate money through increasing the fees," Al Atishan said.
"We have kept the same fee for years even though several government and private companies and establishments have increased costs," he said.
King Fahad Causeway, named after the former Saudi monarch, is the third largest bridge in the world. More than 170 million people and 71 million cars have crossed it since its inauguration.
Its life span is expected to be 50 years, but can be extended to 75 with good maintenance, Al Atishan said.
