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CCNTV6
  • 1 year ago
There is much ado over two new bridges leaving commuters and motorists dissatisfied with what has been delivered.


The Minister responsible pleaded with stakeholders to be judicious and understand that work is still ongoing, but that efforts were made to allow passage in time for Monday's reopening of school.
Transcript
00:00Residents and commuters in central Trinidad are expressing displeasure with
00:05two repaired bridges in the area. They've taken to social media and the offices of
00:10their councillors to lodge their concerns. As relates to the recently
00:14reopened bridled bridge after a year-long wait, councillor Adrian Ali
00:18says the work began deteriorating within 24 hours. He says quote this situation is
00:25unacceptable and a disservice to the community. The people who rely on the
00:29bridge every day deserve accountability, not public displays that gloss over poor
00:35workmanship end quote. But Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinhanan
00:39called for parties to be more circumspect. Speaking with TV6 News, the
00:43minister said quote what we explained is that we wanted the bridge opened in time
00:48for the new school term. All the work is ongoing. We were able to allow motorists
00:53to use the route while river work and other aspects of repair of the bridge
00:58are continuing. We did do some paving but that's not final. When the works are
01:03completed, that layer will be removed and the final paving done end quote. The
01:08other option, Minister Sinhanan says, was to not open the bridge and signal chaos
01:13for commuters. Chaguanas Mayor Faiq Mohammed is not buying the minister's
01:18explanation. So there's a special paving that is done just so we can open our bridge or
01:26open our project because the issue at hand is not that work have to continue,
01:32you know. The paving of that bridge was done. If the minister say more work
01:38have to be done, I would like the scope of the engineering report on that bridge,
01:42the scope of works on that bridge and the money that I would like that to be
01:45laid or to be produced to the public. MP Vandana Mohit when contacted says she
01:50supports her constituents and is lobbying robustly to ensure that all of
01:54their concerns are addressed as soon as possible. Over to the Perseverance Bridge
02:00now. Residents are complaining of a height restriction and what did they
02:04describe as a misplaced hump at the mounts of the bridge. Not only are heavy
02:10vehicles unable to pass but as you can see a 25-seater maxi-taxi can't use the
02:16route. The maximum allowed height is 8 feet or 2.4 meters but the placement of
02:22the hump makes it even shorter. Minister Sinanan tells us when the bridge was
02:26built decades ago it was conceptualized as a bypass for localized traffic but
02:32since then the bridge has been used by heavy trucks which over time have
02:36contributed to its collapse. Not so says Mayor Faiq Mohammed who lays the blame
02:42of the collapse back in the hands of the Ministry of Works. These trucks did not
02:47aid in the collapsing of this bridge. What made this bridge collapse? When this
02:52bridge was built there were no wing walls. When Ministry of Works was dredging the
02:57river recently, they dredged the river wider than the wall of the bridge.
03:06The water started to go behind the foundation of the bridge and
03:14eroded it and that is why the bridge collapsed. Minister Sinanan says the
03:18humps on the bridge are to prevent any sudden or harsh mounting of the
03:23structure and that engineers will be on site every day for the next month to
03:27monitor the impact of traffic. Sinanan says signage was placed to restrict the
03:32load on the bridge and protect the infrastructure but it was ignored with
03:36continued thoroughfare of heavy loads including trailers and cement trucks.
03:41Meanwhile Councillor Ali calls it utterly unacceptable and a potential
03:46hazard. He says quote the high clearance is so restrictive that essential
03:51vehicles such as school buses, maxis and emergency response units are unable to
03:56pass safely in emergencies when every second counts blocking access to the
04:01fastest route and dangerous lives end quote. In the long term the perseverance
04:06bridge Minister Sinanan says will be added to the list of bridges that need
04:10to be reconstructed and that may take up to two years to be done.
04:15Arvishi Tiwari, Rupnirain, TV6 News.
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