Works Minister opens $40m Couva bridge

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan and Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein commissioned the $40 million Camden Road Bridge in Couva today, on the link road between Couva Main Road and the Rivulet Road.

“This new bridge is expected to significantly improve the flow and movement of traffic in Couva and in the Point Lisas Industrial area," Sinanan said.

Construction on this bridge started in 2014 under the last government but was stopped owing to lack of funding.

“Coming into office, and the change of government, the administration did not see it fit to just shut down this project,” Sinanan said.

The government, he said, decided to continue the project and while there were challenges, the Ministry of Finance did make the funding available.

“It is a clear indication that the projects started by the last regime would not have been stopped by this regime,” he said, adding that he was proud to open the road in the Couva South constituency. Sinanan said he was surprised that the MP for the area, Rudy Indarsingh, was not there for the opening, as he had been clamouring for quite a while for the bridge.

“I was looking forward to handing over the bridge to Indarsingh,” he said.

Asked whether work will continue on the bad roads in Couva, Sinanan said there are challenges with infrastructure throughout TT and Indarsingh will appreciate that the government has to prioritise them, depending on the availability of funding.

He described the bridge as a first-class bridge, saying the engineers took 413 calendar days to complete it.

The Couva area is probably the most developed in TT within the last ten years, he said, and with the opening up of the Rivulet Road, there has been an influx of businesses and industries in the area.

“Therefore there is a need for these secondary roads to come up to standard to take the weight of the vehicles on the roads in and out of the Couva/Point Lisas area,” Sinanan said.

Originally this bridge was known as Captain Watson Bridge and was part of the Caroni Estate in the days of Tate and Lyle, the first operators of what became Caroni (1975) Ltd.

“After this bridge collapsed, a Bailey bridge was installed and it was supposed to be up for just one year, but it lasted 30 years," he recalled.

The Works and Transport Ministry, through the Bridges Reconstruction Programme, has undertaken the reconstruction/rehabilitation of 62 bridges in TT.