Residents forced to risk lives crossing river on makeshift footbridge and zipline in Troy
But such is the fear of the river when it overflows that they head for home whenever rain clouds gather, sometimes hours before the scheduled end of the school day.
That’s the reality in Troy, Trelawny, and Cowick Park, Manchester, since school reopened on September 5, following the long summer break. The situation flows from the collapse, a year ago, of the 125year-old Troy Bridge which connected residents from both sides of Hector’s River.
Locked school doors last year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic meant the collapsed bridge had little immediate impact on schoolchildren. That changed with the reopening of schools earlier this year.
Some students who would normally walk to school using the bridge now spend up two hours by road and $2,200 in daily transportation costs. Others stay away from school or risk the makeshift options which have been made more dangerous by heavy afternoon rains in recent weeks which have repeatedly left the river in spate.
Acting principal at Troy Primary School Keresha Mcintosh related a tale of woe when the Jamaica Observer visited last Wednesday. She explained that school attendance has dropped significantly because of the distance and expense in travelling by alternative routes since the collapse of the Troy bridge.
Furthermore, for those bold enough to risk crossing the river on the makeshift footbridge, created from a fallen tree, and a zipline made from a rope and bucket, class time is swiftly cut if rain threatens.
“It has been really bad, especially for the students who live across the bridge. They have not been able to come to school. Some students are absent for three days for the week and when they do come they have to leave early. So if the rain sets up they have to leave, whether it is nine o’clock in the morning or one o’clock in the afternoon, they have to leave,” Mcintosh told the
Sunday Observer.
She added that some students had transferred to other schools in Balaclava.
When contacted for an update on the Government’s pace of works to replace the collapsed infrastructure, minister with responsibility for works Everald Warmington appeared to be annoyed by the
Sunday Observer’s interest.
“Tell me something: Is that the only bridge in Jamaica that needs replacement or repair? … I don’t need to give you nuh update at all! I’m asking if that is the only bridge in Jamaica that needs replacement or repair? That is not the only one!” he said before abruptly ending the phone call.
However, Member of
Parliament (MP) for Trelawny Southern Marisa Dalrymplephilibert said Warmington “confirmed” that a design has been completed for a new bridge.
“... I have received copies of the design for the new bridge, which has been completed and they are now doing a costing of the bridge. I want to indicate that a Bailey bridge is not an option for the area that’s there [because it is] far too small,” said the Government MP.
Dalrymple-philibert did not give a specific timeline but said the Government is moving swiftly to replace the bridge.
“The Government has already had the designs drawn and they are now doing a costing so they are moving as speedily ahead as possible,” she said.
Opposition spokesman on transport and works Mikael
Phillips told the Sunday Observer two weeks ago that the Troy bridge is among some 30 bridges down across the island.
“Let us think about what we are experiencing in Troy [and also] about the other 29 communities that are affected by bridges that have collapsed and the resources that have not been put in place to replace those bridges,” he had said.
Acting principal at Troy High Alliah Chambers-green said the school has lost staff and students who have transferred to other schools to avoid the expensive near 15-mile alternative commute.
“The downed bridge would have significantly impacted our students as well as our staff members. Since then our students have had to traverse the makeshift slabs across the water and this, of course, puts them in direct risk of harm. As a result their access to education has been threatened. So in the seasons where we have had heavy rainfall their ability to come to school would have been compromised,” she explained.
“… In terms of our staff, we have lost two experienced teachers from our human resources and this would have been due, in particular, to the strain of travel across the parishes to come to school,” she added.
Chambers-green pointed out that before the bridge collapsed it would take about 30 minutes to travel to Troy from communities close to the Manchester-st Elizabeth border near Balaclava.
“With the bridge down, [teachers] who are from Santa Cruz would be travelling for an hour and 45 minutes via the shortest route and those from Balaclava would now [be taking] about an hour and 20 minutes to come to work,” she said.
“The… psychological, physical, and financial strain would have caused persons to opt to work elsewhere,” she added.
Chambers-green said her school is now awaiting information from the Ministry of Education to assist students and staff affected by the collapsed bridge.
“…. As an institution we are seeing how best we are able to ensure our students are engaged and that they are accessing education safely… There are some things that we are considering. We are in discussions with the Ministry of Education… to provide support for these students,” she said.
“We are in the process of