Who owns Hanover bridge ‘neither here nor there’

WESTERN BUREAU:

THE FINGER-pointing between the local representatives of the National Works Agency (NWA) and the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) over whose responsibility it is to fix the damaged bridge in the district of Woodsville, Hanover, is of no significance with regard to solving the problem at hand.

That is the view expressed by Dave Brown, member of parliament for Hanover Eastern, the constituency in which the damaged bridge is located, during an interview with The Gleaner.

As thousands of residents of Woodsville and its adjoining districts ponder the way forward as it relates to them attending work and school, both the HMC and the NWA have been arguing as to which organisation is responsible for replacing the bridge, or repairing the damage, during recent heavy rains.

“The person who deals with bridges within the NWA, Roger Smith, visited the damaged bridge, did his checks and balances, and have tendered a report with a recommendation to the NWA and the municipality, and I have seen a copy of the report,” Brown told The Gleaner.

“It is neither here nor there who owns the bridge, as there is a process to deal with the problem,” he emphasised.

He stated that the recommendation forwarded to the NWA and the HMC calls for the demolition of the present structure, because of the amount of damage it has suffered, and the building of a Compact 200 bridge.

Brown was critical of recent media reports, which, he claimed, tried to put him in a bad light with the residents of Woodsville and its surrounding districts. The reports, he said, stated that he had arranged with a journalist to meet at the site of the bridge over the weekend, but he had failed to show up.

While expressing his understanding of the problems faced by residents with the bridge, now declared closed by the NWA, Brown gave his commitment to do all the representation necessary to get the damaged bridge replaced. But he cautioned that despite the urgency, there is a process to be followed.

Meanwhile, in relation to the removal of caution tape that the NWA had stretched across both ends of the bridge to prevent its use by pedestrians and motorists, Mayor of Lucea Sheridan Samuels, and Devon Brown, councillor for the Hopewell Division, the HMC division in which the Woodsville area falls, both visited the area to get a first-hand look at the structure on Monday.

Samuels and Devon Brown came to the conclusion that the bridge was too dangerous to be used and ordered two truckloads of marl to be placed at both ends, to prevent its continued use.

The truck with the marl was slow in coming, and arrived late in the afternoon, after both Samuels and the councillor had left the scene. But then another problem surfaced, as residents decided to continue using the bridge, so the truck driver was prevented from blocking the bridge with the marl. The marl was then deposited to the side of the roadway.

Residents claim that the road surface on the alternate route is very bad, and the route is too long and costly.

When contacted by The Gleaner, Councillor Brown emphasised that the bridge was very unsafe and it had to be blocked.

“The mayor and I just spoke, and even if we have to go up there with the police tomorrow, the bridge has to be blocked with the marl,” Councillor Brown stated, adding that the blocking of the damaged bride, to prevent its continued use, will be in the interest of the safety of the same residents who do not want it to be blocked.

bryan.miller@gleanerjm.com