By Clint Chan Tack Friday, August 28 2009

WORKS and Transport Minister Colm Imbert yesterday condemned Trinidad and Tobago Contractors Limited (TTCL) for driving a 50 tonne crane over the Balandra bridge causing it to collapse last Saturday.

Stating the company is liable for the cost of the damage to the bridge and all work done by the ministry to replace it, Imbert told the post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s: “What happened there is inexcusable. What was done is reckless and it was only by the grace of God that the crane operator did not die.”

He said all local contractors knew that all vehicles exceeding 15 tonnes in weight require a special licence under the Motor Vehicles and Traffic Act to drive on public roads.

The minister added it was illegal to drive a crane of that weight over a 20 tonne bridge.

“My message to the players in the construction industry is that they need to do some introspection. This has nothing to do with the Government. This falls wholly and solely in the domain of the private sector. It is important that we put a stop to this kind of unsafe practice,” Imbert declared.

Referring to reports that he received about the bridge’s collapse, Imbert said it was “nonsensical” for anyone to claim that maintenance of the bridge was an issue in this matter.

“You have a bridge that is 60 years old, that is rated at 20 tonnes. A private contractor being supervised by a private engineering firm chooses for some unknown reason on Saturday afternoon, when no one is around, to drive a fully weighted crawler crane on to the bridge.” Imbert said one report he received said the crane was built by the Hoist and Bearing Company of the United States and weighs 50 tonnes. With normalcy returned to Balandra by the installation of a Bailey bridge on Tuesday, Imbert said the ministry’s priority now is to recover costs pertaining to the damage to the bridge and its replacement. “Whether he (the contractor) has broken any other laws and there should be police action, I cannot say. That is for others to deal with,” he added.

With the facts of the bridge’s collapse clear to him, Imbert is not interested in meeting with the contractor.

“What would he want to talk to me about? To admit that he ran a 50 tonne crane over a 20 tonne bridge unlawfully? What would be the point of the meeting? For me to tell him that as a contractor with 60 years experience, he should know better?”

However, TTCL managing director Bob Mahabir told Newsday yesterday that officials from the Works and Transport Ministry, as well as consultants, met with him and representatives of his company to discuss the collapse of the bridge.

Mahabir said the meeting lasted about two hours and took place in an office on the Balandra site yesterday. Mahabir said the meeting was fruitful.

“We are making progress and keeping our fingers crossed. The purpose of the meeting was to see the way forward and make some changes due to this new situation,” Mahabir said. An estimated 4,000 villagers and visitors were stranded on the north east coast when the bridge collapsed.