Irate residents demand new bridge as memory of collapsed structure still haunts them
AS THE National Works Agency (NWA) awaits funding to repair a 78-year-old bridge connecting Llandewey, Font Hill, Georgia, and other districts in St Thomas, residents are furious that time is against them and that the structure might collapse.
Fears of a recurrence of the October 2020 collapse still haunt them today.
“This well wah fix! When di river come dung, a we di community people affi fix di bridge,” Kevin Smith, a resident of Llandewey, told The Gleaner.
He emphasised that residents have to take the matter into their hands and provide temporary solutions regarding the bridge.
“A river course mi work. We affi carry wi tractor and bank up the bridge and build a pathway round deh so,” Smith told The Gleaner.
“A [river] shingle dump up the road, and when the river come down heavy, we affi tek di bypass round deh so. We need the MP (member of parliament), the NWA, the councillor, and the prime minister. Anuh one smaddy fi come together and gi Llandewey, Ramble, and everybody a bridge. About four community have to access this bridge.”
Smith said the district has various public facilities that professionals use the bridge to pass each day in an effort to work and serve the community.
“We have the clinic up de. Di post office move, but we have whole heap a business place at Llandewey. We have bars, we have shops, we have a lot of business places at Llandewey district, so we need this thing to be dealt with,” he said.
Another resident, Jevawn Henry, told The Gleaner that the condition of the bridge was not the only problem. He said multiple streams created by the river when it rains heavily cause flooding in the area.
“The main issue in a Llandewey weh we having right now is the drains. The drain dem need fi clean. The curb wall channel dem need fi deal with properly and need fi clean up,” he said.
Henry said when there are storms, the drains are unable to hold the water, and houses in a nearby lane are flooded out.
“These drains were built long ago to carry a smaller volume of water, so now that more water is flowing through the gully, the drain dem waa fix up and clean regularly,” Henry said.
He showed The Gleaner team one of the drains he was referring to.
Henry, however, said the river is no longer overflowing its banks as it did in the past because of mining in the nearby river bed.
In 2020, NWA Communications Manager Stephen Shaw said the agency was working on a twopronged strategy that includes replacing the old bridge and re-establishing the detour route.
When contacted by The Gleaner recently for an update, he simply said, “We are waiting on funding to have it done.”
In 2020, it was reported that a new bridge was being designed for the area.