Icacos back in the loop with new bridge

Over the bridge: Siparia Regional Corporation chairman Dr Glen Ramadharsingh and Cedros councillor Shankar Teelucksingh supervise the final works on a Bailey bridge in Icacos on Friday.
Over the bridge: Siparia Regional Corporation chairman Dr Glen Ramadharsingh and Cedros councillor Shankar Teelucksingh supervise the final works on a Bailey bridge in Icacos on Friday.

SEETA PERSAD

Residents of Icacos, on the remote southwestern peninsula of Trinidad, are back in the loop with the installation of a Bailey bridge over the Saltwater River.

The original bridge collapsed over three weeks ago, leaving residents cut off from the rest of the country, as it passed over the only access road in the area. After the bridge collapsed, the Siparia Regional Corporation (SRC) tried to repair it. On Friday, SRC chairman Dr Glen Ramadharsingh and Cedros councillor Shankar Teelucksingh were in Icacos to monitor the installation of the new bridge which replaces the collapsed one.

“Close to 300 villagers were literally cut of from TT,” Ramadharsingh said, adding that the corporation tried to find funds to rebuild the bridge but could not, owing to the hard economic times, even at the opening of the new financial year. He said Teelucksingh tried to get assistance through the Minister of Local Government, Kazim Hosein.

“It was through the Disaster Management Unit that we were able to locate a Bailey bridge and it is being installed for the people of Icacos,” Ramadharsingh said.

Teelucksingh said for the past three weeks vehicles were not able to pass.

“The garbage trucks, water trucks, fire service and school buses and other supply trucks were not able to reach the people because of the bad condition of the bridge,” he said, adding that people are relieved that the Bailey bridge was installed in one day.

Ramadharsingh said life is difficult for the people of Icacos, as fishing is not as lucrative as it used to be and people felt rejected and alienated. “People of this area were left out, as they are in the furthest part of southwest Trinidad,” Ramadharsingh said, adding that they are happy to have the bridge installed and to resume working in the lead-up to Christmas. He called for the residents to be treated like the rest of the country.

On November 6, the decades-old bridge collapsed as a result of seawater blast and general wear and tear.

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"Icacos back in the loop with new bridge"

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