-following death of man

In the wake of the death of a St. Ignatius village man who hit his head and fell through an incomplete section of the Moco-Moco Bridge, the planks have been re-arranged so as to allow safer passage for pedestrians.

Chairman of Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo), Clarindo Lucas told Stabroek News yesterday that the Public Works Department of the region has undertaken work to ensure the safe passage of pedestrians traversing the Moco-Moco bridge. However, residents said that it was St. Ignatius villagers, who re-arranged the planks and not the region.

Lucas further said that the contractor, who was tasked with the rehabilitation of the bridge, has made attempts to source wood to complete the repair works but the weather in the Rupununi district is hampering this. He expressed confidence that the bridge would be completed shortly.
The state of the bridge, which links Lethem and the neighbouring village of St. Ignatius, had come under heavy criticism from Lethem residents last week after a man, Allan David-James, died after falling through the incomplete decking. Repair work on the bridge had been halted for about a month before the incident due to insufficient materials being budgeted for and planks were laid across the incomplete portion to allow persons to cross over.

A resident had told this newspaper that David-James was pushing his bicycle across the plank when he lost his balance and fell, hitting his head in the process. It is believed that the man was intoxicated at the time.

The creek was high at the time and a youth heard the splash as the man fell. The youth ran to the nearby houses and raised an alarm. A policeman and other residents responded and after searching for about half an hour, the body was located.

Yesterday, Lucas told Stabroek News that the works department of the region was working on the bridge to make it safe for pedestrians to cross and said that the contractor was sourcing wood to complete the works on the bridge. “Work is ongoing at present to ensure we have safe passage on the bridge”, he stated. He added that the weather was posing a problem but expressed confidence that the work would be completed in the next couple of weeks.  This newspaper understands that on Monday the contractor received a letter from the region giving them the go ahead to restart work. According to reports from the community, to get the wood and bring it to Lethem, would take two weeks. With no severe interference from the weather, works on the bridge should be completed within a month.

Meanwhile, the Regional Chairman said that during the course of the rehabilitation earlier, the bridge had been closed three times but persons always moved the barriers and proceeded to cross over. He said that David-James’ death was not as a result of any neglect, asserting that the man was intoxicated. He declared that “people more sober” actually ride around to the other bridge to cross over.

Last week this newspaper had been told that the bridge had been in its incomplete state for about a month, since repairs were halted in the first week in July after the contractor, a local resident, ran out of material.  Reports out of the border community had stated that the bridge, which was built several years ago, had begun to deteriorate and an assessment was undertaken by an engineer. However, according to residents, the estimate included the reuse of wood from the deteriorating bridge and only a limited amount of “fresh” wood was ordered.

The project was tendered out and work began in the third week in June. However, when the project was only half completed, the amount of wood was found to be insufficient and work was halted. It was also found that the wood from the old structure was unusable. This newspaper was also informed that persons and even animals had fallen through the incomplete decking.

Lucas yesterday said that it was not the fault of the contractor that the amount of materials was not enough as he would have based his bid on the assessment carried out beforehand. He stated that it was just repairs that were to have been done and it was never intended that a completely new bridge be built.