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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