Bamia, Linden-Soesdyke Highway residents say that the community bridge could give way at any time due to extensive erosion at its foundation, despite recent remedial works to address the situation.
Recently the severity of the erosion at Bamia was brought to the attention of the Ministry of Public Works, which moved immediately to arrest the situation.
However, regional leaders in the small Region 10 community say the work was poorly done and there is evidence that the bridge is now on the verge of collapse.
The Bamia bridge is critical to ingress and egress to the mining town and interior locations. Should the bridge be closed for any given period, the effects could be far reaching.
Stabroek News visited the site yesterday afternoon and residents pointed out signs of continued erosion at the foundation.
“Look at this,” said Edward Persaud, taking a long piece of wood and sinking it into a large hole that has re-appeared. There were several other areas bearing evidence that the bridge was under threat.
“We are really scared, ’cause look this part done loosing off the bridge and with any serious rain this bridge gone and God forbid some vehicle might be passing at the same time,” said Dorothy Gibson, a resident.
Residents pointed to the other end of the bridge, where there was also a sink hole, which they said appeared after the remedial works done by the contractor. They claimed sand from a wall close to the creek was used to do the repairs.
Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon, during a visit to the site, said
that the situation is urgent and emergency measures need to be taken to address the situation. “It is obvious that this work was substandard and is very dangerous with over one thousand plus heavy and light vehicles passing on this bridge every day,” said Solomon.
He added that today he will be ensuring that the region’s engineers visit the site and the relevant authorities will be summoned. “This is a critical situation that we can’t afford to delay and pussy foot around, this is really critical,” he added.
Solomon was accompanied by fellow Regional Democratic Council members and regional Member of Parliament Vanessa Kissoon.
