Cornwall Court residents want repairs to ‘burnt out’ bridge

WESTERN BUREAU:

Three weeks after the bridge leading into their community was partially destroyed by fire, causing a part of the structure to collapse, residents of Cornwall Court in Montego Bay, St James, are calling on the authorities to ensure that repairs are completed ahead of the start of the new school year in September.

In an interview with The Gleaner, Rayon Grey, the president of the Cornwall Court Citizens’ Association (CCCA), said although assurances were given that repair work on the bridge would start on Monday, as at Monday evening, he was not aware of any significant progress being made.

“We were told the work was going to start today [Monday] … I went there today, and I have not seen any movement; maybe they were there before I got there, but I have not seen anything actually started yet, as in on-the-ground movement. It creates a huge problem for everyone, for the health services, security forces, and residents, and we are really at a disadvantage with the bridge being out right now,” said Grey.

“For us as community advocates, we have gone under a lot of pressure to come up with information, and our political representation has been lacking,” added Grey. “I am on my two knees praying every night for work to start on the bridge, because if it remains unfinished before the beginning of the new school term in September, trust me, we are going to have a huge problem.”

BRIDGE COLLAPSED

The bridge, which is located near the Farm Primary and Infant School, collapsed on July 2, after residents set fire to debris under the bridge as part of their efforts clear that waterway on the eve of Hurricane Beryl. The bridge collapsed under the weight of fire truck from the St James Fire Brigade, which responded to the fire.

Prior to its collapse, the bridge has had a history of being clogged during heavy rainfall, resulting in flooding in that section of the community. Residents had also previously complained that the authorities had not been properly maintaining the bridge.

In addition to transportation through the area and provision of goods and services being affected, four schools – the Green Pond High School, Green Pond Primary School, Green Pond Infant School, and Farm Primary and Infant School – will be negatively affected if the bridge’s restoration is not completed in time.

During Sunday’s installation of the newly elected executive of the CCCA, Gregory Harris, the councillor for the Salt Spring division in the St James Municipal Corporation, gave residents an assurance that work to repair the bridge would commence on Monday.

WORK UNDERWAY

“Regarding the bridge, or the culvert down by Green Pond, the work has started; the prep work was completed on Saturday (July 20), and the actual work will start tomorrow (Monday). We were waiting on Tank-Weld Limited for some of the steel, and they are here, so the work will start,” Harris said.

“It should be completed by the end of August to September. So, for school, the bridge should be up and running. Let me add that unless there is some other unforeseen event, that is the projection and that is what we are working with,” added Harris.

Currently, with the bridge now out of commission, commuters seeking to access the Cornwall Court community must traverse an alternate route through Farm Heights and Porto Bello. That roadway is in poor condition, resulting in a constant congestion in traffic flow.

“We are now using an alternate route, which is in very poor condition, as it creates a lot of pile-ups because vehicles have to go through very slowly. That stretch of road is in very poor condition,” lamented Grey. “Vehicles that are traversing that route have to be doing it very slowly, so imagine when there is a huge pile-up, how that would work.”

When contacted, Montego Bay’s Mayor Richard Vernon told The Gleaner that restoration work on the Cornwall Court bridge has in fact begun as of Saturday.

“The work has begun, as mobilisation started on Saturday and the work is to take eight weeks. We will be ready for September,” said Vernon.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com