9 VILLAGES CUT OFFBY RALPH BANWARIE Monday, August 24 2009
SCORES of stranded vacationing visitors on the north east coast of Trinidad, were yesterday shuttled out of the area by boat as a temporary Bailey Bridge was being constructed to get people out of the area after the collapse of the Balandra bridge, on Saturday.
It is likely to take two days for people to get in and out of the area, Indra Sinanan-Ojar Maharaj, MP for Toco/Sangre Grande, said yesterday.
The temporary Bailey bridge was yesterday brought in by engineers from the Ministry of Works and assembled on the ground.
Engineers from Junior Sammy Contracting firm have been given the job to remove the remainder of the old bridge and prepare the site for the erection of the temporary Bailey Bridge.
Director of Highways Division at the ministry, Roger Gunness said the bridge is expected to go up by 6 pm this evening.
The villages which have been cut off include Balandra, Matura, Rampanalgas, Cumana, Toco, San Souci, L’anse Noire, Grande Riviere and Matelot. Some 4,000 villagers have been left stranded.
The decades-old Balandra Bridge collapsed under the weight of a crane on Saturday. The driver of the crane was moving slabs of concrete from the old bridge to a new bridge being built, when the bridge collapsed.
Both the new bridge and the old bridge are adjacent to each other.
The crane’s driver, who works with Trinidad and Tobago Contractors Limited, of Claxton Bay, escaped unhurt.
He was not at the site when Newsday visited the area, yesterday.
More than 50 vacationers who were spending the last few days of the August holidays at the beaches on north east coast, were shuttled out by boat, yesterday.
Hundreds still remain in makeshift camps at Toco Composite, Toco RC Primary School, and various guest houses in the area.
Food and water were yesterday distributed to those affected by the Ministry of Social Development.
Public Information Specialist of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) Dike Noel, told Newsday yesterday the Ministry of Works expected completion of the Bailey bridge by today. In the interim, he said the Ministry of Social Development had committed itself to providing services to affected persons in the area who were unable to get home.
“Persons who have been trapped on the either side of the bridge and are unable to get home have been given assistance through hampers and food items to carry them through. I have even heard of schools being used to house some individuals, who are cut off from their homes,” Noel said.
He, however, assured Newsday that officials from the Ministry of Works and Transport were hard at work at rebuilding a bridge.
Matura resident, Terry Elder, a maxi-taxi driver, said he was carrying passengers to Cumana on Saturday when the bridge collapsed.
He and most of his passengers have been stranded since then.
“It is pressure for us. We would have to spend another night in the maxi,” he said.
Elder refused to leave his maxi-taxi, although the police have since been providing 24-hour security for those stranded residents who are unable to go home.
Shamilla Mootilalsingh, from Rampanalgas, said it was very inconvenient, since she had to walk about a mile and a half to get to the bridge to cross it by foot.
She went to the Toco Lighthouse on Saturday and was trying to get home.
Aaron Mitchell, from Cumana, said he was returning home from Sangre Grande when he learnt of the collapse of the bridge.
He was not surprised. “I was expecting the bridge to collapse anytime,” he said, adding that the work being done in the area had undermined the soil and this could have contributed to the bridge collapsing.
Dr Fe Reyes, DMO for the area, who lives in Toco, was also left stranded.
She had gone to visit relatives in Diego Martin and said since she was afraid to cross the makeshift path, she had to return to her relatives’ home.
The Edwards family, from Petit Valley, who spends the weekend at their beach house in Toco, was unable to get out of the area, yesterday.
Kathleen Edwards said they had no choice but to stay until the Bailey bridge is erected.
Her daughter was expected to begin classes at school today.
“We have no choice, but we are lucky since we are home. So far we are doing well in terms of food and water supplies,” she said.
On Saturday, some visitors, who were not aware that the bridge had collapsed and were making their way to San Souci and Matelot, decided to spend the day at Salybia, while others just parked their cars on the side of the road and looked on at the confusion.
Businessmen in the popular vacation area complained of loss in business at this peak season.
Councillor for Toco/Fishing Pond Terry Rondon said housing, food and medical supplies were being made available to those affected.
Two ambulances have been positioned at either end of the collapsed Balandra bridge.
The temporary foot bridge is still in place for those brave enough to walk across but Ojar Maharaj said she thought it was “a little dangerous” so she provided a small boat for those who wanted to get across.
Maxi taxis are also shuttling people in and out of the area.
Some brave parents chose to cross the river on a log but they were advised against doing so because of the risks involved.
Ojar Maharaj said the boat was being used when the tide was high.
Work on the temporary Bailey bridge is being coordinated by Local Government Minister Hazel Manning, Ojar Maharaj, Rondon, Chief Executive Officer of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation Keith Aaron and engineers from the Ministry of Works, led by Gunness and Vijay Gangapersad of the Social Development Ministry.
