Residents, stakeholders berate NWA over prolonged bridge closure
Published:Tuesday | January 9, 2024 | 12:08 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
Approximately a year and three months have passed since the closure of the Spring Village bridge in Old Harbour, St Catherine, which has left locals frustrated by what they call a lack of communication from the National Works Agency (NWA).
The NWA closed the bridge to vehicular traffic on September 23, 2022, impacting motorists coming from the direction of Gutters, Old Harbour Road to the communities of Spring Village, Bamboo, Back Pasture, and Worthy Park. Inspections by the NWA revealed that the structure of the bridge was seriously damaged and posed a risk to travellers.
Public passenger vehicles (PPVs) have been unable to cross the bridge but can be found lined up along the roadway leading up to the closed structure, available to pick up passengers from other taxis on the other side of the bridge, so they can be taken to their destinations.
The Gleaner was informed by taxi operators last month that the other route that required motorists to travel through Nightingale Grove was too long. They stated that passengers would often quarrel about the poor condition of the unpaved road which resulted in the dispersion of dust.
Residents emphasised that, even though the alternative road had some road grading work done to it, this was insufficient to address the issue at hand. They noted that paving of the road surface was still required to ensure it would last longer.
Randy Finnikin, executive director of the Spring Village Development Foundation (SVDF), who recently spoke with The Gleaner, described the issue concerning the period of time that the bridge has been closed, as a “sore point” in the neighbourhood.
“The worst part about it is that no authority figure, NWA, the MP (member of parliament) has come, has said a word to the people,” Finnikin said.
“People’s lives have been shattered because of this. The loss of money ... it’s a mess and I actually expected better from our government about this because we not talking about a little country road, this is a major thoroughfare,” he added.
ANTICIPATED A QUICK RESOLVE
He went on to say that he had anticipated that the authorities would act quickly to try to resolve this issue given the number of communities affected which are highly productive in agricultural production along with the presence of one of the largest suppliers of chicken to the nation and region, the Jamaica Broilers, who are also located in the area.
He emphasised that “every lot is five acres around there and over 90 per cent of those lots are in commercial farming” and once again called on “the powers that be” to take action.
Dave Fairman, operational executive and vice president of the Jamaica Broilers Group’s Best Dressed Chicken division, informed The Gleaner on Monday that the closure of the bridge had impacted the plant’s operations in Spring Village.
He said that because of the longer distance of the alternative route and the bad road conditions, the staff have had to depart from the plant earlier than usual in order to avoid delays when making deliveries.
Moreover, Fairman explained that some employees have resorted to parking their cars along the road leading up to the closed bridge and to take a taxi to work so as to avoid causing additional damage to their cars’ front end.
He said that for those employees who did not drive, they were experiencing increased cost for transport to work given the circumstances.
Fairman stated that the company has made many appeals to the relevant authorities for a permanent solution.
“It is a challenge but we have made our adjustments and we’re just trying our best to keep going while we get the alternative route properly paved while they work on the bridge,” he said.
In response to questions posed by The Gleaner on Monday, Stephen Shaw, NWA’s communications manager, said the delayed start of the reconstruction of the bridge was due to challenges that the agency is facing with the procurement of a contractor.
“We went to tender twice but we did not get any returns,” he said.
As such, Shaw explained that the agency would be, once again, in the market seeking a contractor to do the work.
Meanwhile, he was unable to state what the projected cost would be to replace the bridge. This, he said, is because it was dependent on the tender process.
Additionally, Shaw told The Gleaner he also could not provide a timeline in which work would begin to ease the inconveniences of the residents as “it depends on the success or not of the process to attracting a qualified bidder”.
Finnikin noted that people’s concerns were largely focused on the unknown start date of the replacement bridge’s construction. He went on to say that it would probably take 12 to 18 months to be completed, if and when it does start.
“I know a bridge takes long to build but here’s the thing, the alternative route, you know that $20 million could have been spent on the alternative route and create a standard alternative route that would almost make you feel as though you don’t miss the bridge because the road around there has good drainage, it has good structure, it is firm,” he reasoned.