I WILL TAKE ACTIONBy Alexander Bruzual and Laurel Williams Tuesday, August 25 2009
Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert has vowed to take action to recover costs should the contractor responsible for works at the Balandra River be found liable for the collapse of a bridge last Saturday.
Imbert, assuring that the installation of a temporary Bailey bridge across the river would have been completed by 9 pm yesterday, said preliminary investigations indicate the old bridge did not have the capacity to accommodate the weight of the 50-tonne crane which was on the bridge when it collapsed.
“The old bridge was not designed to accommodate a load of that magnitude and if it is confirmed the contractor is legally responsible for the collapse of the old bridge, appropriate action will be taken to recover all costs incurred by the ministry,” Imbert said in a release.
In response to Imbert’s firm position, managing director of the Trinidad and Tobago Contractors Limited (TTCL) Bob Mahabir said, “ We know that there must be cost involve. We are monitoring the incident. ”
Mahabir confirmed TTCL was given an 18-month contract by the Works and Transport Ministry to install five bridges and said work at the Balandra River was the last site on which a bridge was to be erected.
“One was constructed on the 15-mile mark, two on the 19-mile mark and one on the 21-mile mark. This 18-mile mark is the last one,” said Mahabir, who also confirmed TTCL was one year behind schedule on the project. TTCL has been in operation for 50 years.
He explained the crane and other heavy duty equipment had made many trips across the old bridge because it was the only access route over the river. It was from this point that work on a new bridge was being done. Mahabir was unable to say what was the maximum weight load for the decades-old Balandra bridge.
“There are no linkages from Matelot on the east and Blanchisseuse so that the crane had done the trips many times before. I visited the scene yesterday (Sunday) and we have representatives there every day, ” Mahabir said.
“I am rather remorseful that it (the collapse) happened but fortunately no one was injured. For that, I am happy, ” he said.
In the meantime, crews were working round-the-clock to install a temporary Bailey bridge which can accommodate loads of up to 25 tonnes, according to Imbert.
“Barring unforeseen circumstances, full road access to the North East Coast should be restored late tonight (yesterday),” Imbert said.
However, work crews on the site were not as optimistic as Imbert as several emergencies caused delays in the installation of the Bailey bridge.
Three pregnant women had to be wheeled over two planks placed at the side of one of the rails of the Bailey bridge so ambulances could take them to Sangre Grande District Hospital.
Several persons who also had emergencies were also allowed to walk over from the northern end over to waiting transport on the other side.
At one point, a crane being used to lift parts of the bridge temporarily stopped working when its computerised system went down. It resumed operations late last evening.
As a result, one official said the bridge would not be in place until midday today and afterwards it has to be tested to ensure that it can handle the traffic.
More than 4,000 villagers have been left stranded by the bridge’s collapse, affecting the villages of Balandra, Matura, Rampanalgas, Cumana, Toco, San Souci, L’anse Noire, Grande Riviere and Matelot.
Apart from having no access into or out of their communities, residents of San Souci and Matelot have also been without electricity for more than 24 hours. The collapse of the bridge has set back the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (TTEC) response to restore power.
In a statement yesterday, TTEC said the power outage was the result of the inclement weather on Sunday and residents eastward of light pole 294, Paria Main Road, Matelot, were affected.
TTEC’s attempts to rectify the problem were hampered by the collapse of the bridge, because of its repair, vehicles had no alternative route to pass to get to the communities.
The same crane that was being used to lay down the bridge was also used to lift several pieces of TTEC equipment across the river, while TTEC crews crossed over in pirogues.
TTEC said it hoped to restore electricity to the affected areas by this morning.
Officials from the Ministry of Social Development have reportedly been of “great assistance” to those individuals stranded on either side of the bridge.
It was said the ministry’s disaster response team was assisting by providing hot meals, and food hampers, soap, toiletries and goods to all persons affected through the use of cranes, pirogues, and ground transport provided by the regional corporation and the army.
In a statement, the Ministry of Social Development said relief has been provided to 250 persons. It noted that residents helped members of the disaster response team get to the guest houses and other locations where affected persons were staying. These included: Montano’s guest house–22 persons; Toco guest house–22 persons; Theodore’s guest house–15 persons; Ruth’s guest house–26 persons; Rampanalgas RC School–26 persons; Cumana SDA–35 persons; Toco Composite School–65 persons. Forty-two persons chose to stay in their vehicles, the ministry reported. Several persons who stayed with the vehicles pitched tents at the side of the road.
Piero Guerrini, of Mt Plaisir Hotel, Grande Riviere, explained citizens understood how difficult the situation was, however, he said the frustration was beginning to show in everyone.
“The stress is being caused mostly by the amount of wrong information they (the workers from the Ministry of Works) are giving us. They told us Sunday it would have been finished by midnight, then they told us it would finish by three this evening (yesterday). Now they are saying by nine. They are fooling people, and this is what is frustrating them most,” Guerrini said.
The hotel manager also confirmed reports of mini-marts and small groceries running out of grocery items.
He said the items lacking were mostly basic commodities such as bread and bottled water, however he did not expect the situation to worsen, provided of course the ministry kept to its deadline.
“People are panic buying. This is the result of all the misinformation we are receiving. This is causing the markets to run out of goods and without the bridge to restock their supplies, the situation is close to becoming dire,” Guerrini said.
