Blame game continues over collapsed Hanover bridge
Published:Friday | April 14, 2023 | 1:31 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
While fingers are being pointed at the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) regarding its inaction to repair the Woodsville bridge before it collapsed last week, the councillors are insisting that the blame should be placed on the National Works Agency (NWA).
During Thursday’s monthly meeting of the HMC, the councillors took issue with a claim by Everald Warmington, the minister in charge of works in the Office of the Prime Minister, that they are responsible for the collapse. The councillors argued that it was the NWA that was getting the funding to carry out bridge repairs.
“Our ministry (local government) or the HMC does not have the expertise to fix or to build a new bridge. Neither do we get that kind of budget financing,” said Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels. “We are saddened by all that is happening with regard to that fallen bridge. The lives of persons in two municipal corporation divisions are affected.”
While on a tour of sections of Westmoreland on Wednesday, Warmington told journalists that the collapsed Woodsville bridge “is a municipal corporation bridge” and as such would be the responsibility of the HMC.
The Woodsville bridge started to show signs of structural faults in April 2022, when a section of the structure collapsed into the river below. The NWA and the HMC immediately ordered the bridge closed.
At that time, residents of the adjoining districts of Woodsville, Flower Hill and Hillsbrook continued to use the closed bridge, primarily because of the additional financial burden they would have to face to get to work, school, or conduct business outside of their communities.
On Good Friday, a year after the bridge was ordered closed, the entire structure eventually collapsed, leaving a gaping space over the river below. The residents are now forced to use the more expensive route to get out of their communities.
“I was made to understand that a technical team will be doing some assessment, come next Wednesday to formulate the scope of work and estimates to construct a new bridge, so I am still waiting on Wednesday to have a better understanding of what [structure] will be placed there,” said Devon Brown, the councillor for the Hopewell division, in which the bridge is located.
Samuels said that if the HMC is provided with the required expertise and financing, it would gladly spearhead the reconstruction as it wants to alleviate the challenges being faced by the residents.