No vehicular access over Penal bridge

THE Bedford truck which caused a wooden bridge in Penal to collapse on Tuesday, cutting off a small community, was removed by a wrecker on Tuesday night.

But the bridge remains impassable to vehicular traffic as residents say a “patch-up” repair job was done on the decades-old bridge leading into Rajkumar Trace, Penal, allowing only foot traffic to cross.

Newsday was told a wooden barrier over the collapsed area was built to block off anyone from walking on it but no repairs were done to the collapsed area. About 30 people live in Rajkumar Trace, many of whom are farmers.

Speaking with Newsday yesterday, the truck’s owner Darrel Jadoonanan confirmed that the truck was removed by a wrecker.

“I couldn’t leave my truck there, it would have slipped down into the river, so I got the wrecker and moved it,” he said.

On Tuesday he said he had asked the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation (PDRC) for assistance in pulling out the truck but was turned down. Earlier in the day, he had tried to reverse over the bridge to deliver water to residents in Rajkumar Trace when it collapsed.

One resident said she saw employees of the PDRC erecting a “Road Closed” sign at the entrance to the street but said they had not given her any other information on when the bridge would be properly repaired.

PDRC vice-chairman Diptee Ramnath said he was still awaiting word from the Local Government Ministry on whether a Bailey bridge will be installed to bring relief to the residents.