Sinanan boasts of Toco bridges coming in under budget

THE rebuilding of bridges B4/35 and B5/35 along the Paria main road in Toco, were completed at $2.3 million under budget.

Speaking to members of the media after the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the bridges on Saturday, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said the contractor’s tender price was $14 million but they were completed at $11.7 million. The 100-year-old wooden bridges, located in Sans Souci / Montevideo, were rebuilt under the bridges, landslips and traffic-management programme.

Sinanan said, under the programme the government tried to rebuild 15 bridges every year. He said, last year 13 were built and there were 15 construction projects this year with Cabinet approving the design of another 25 bridges.

He said all the wooden bridges in TT would be replaced by concrete ones on a phased basis, and he expected all wooden bridges on the eastern seaboard to be removed in the next two to three years.

In addition, he said government planned to continue to upgrade the Paria main road – widening the roads, putting in shoulders, straightening some of the bends, and installing street lights. This would be done to facilitate the construction of the Toco port that is expected to begin next year.

Sangre Grande regional corporation chairman Terry Rondon thanked Sinanan for the bridges. “We the people on this part of the island, we welcome this. Because of these wooden bridges, we did not have the facilities of the heavy trucks to bring in (aggregate), but most of all, PTSC – that public transport to come in on a timely basis. I can tell the people and assure them, from tomorrow, PTSC will be running to as far as Grande Riviere.”

He said there was one more bridge to rebuild, and in the next few months there would be a bus service to Matelot.

Toco/Sangre Grande MP Glenda Jennings-Smith also thanked Sinanan saying the bridges were a “dream come true,” and stressed that the government made them a priority for the people of the area as well as visitors.

“I want to let people know up here, that this government is working and we are delivering on our promises, facing harsh economic times as we started but yet still we stood strong and we stood with our reserve to ensure that we delivered to the people.”

Sinanan said repairs to two areas with major coastal erosion in Matelot started a year ago, but the challenge was getting material into the area because of the weak bridges.