By Lakhram Bhagirat
and Zoisa Fraser
Water taxis with installed navigation lights were operating last night to transport commuters between the city and the West Demerara, after the temporary closure of the harbour bridge saw chaos at both sides of the Demerara River.
The Maritime Administra-tion (MARAD) granted permission for vessels to install navigation lights so that they could operate on a 24-hour basis, the Government Infor-mation Agency (GINA) announced last evening, after hours of mayhem at the Georgetown ferry stelling, as thousands of commuters fought to get speedboats to take them to the West Demerara.
A small section of the Demerara Harbour Bridge sank early yesterday morning, after the jaws of one of the piers supporting two temporary pontoons at the structure broke. Emergency works were underway to ensure that the bridge is reopened by this evening.
“MARAD officials will be on both the Stabroek (Georgetown) and Vreed-en-Hoop (Region Three) stellings during the night to ensure there is order and smooth operations by water taxis,” GINA quoted Trans-port Minister Robeson Benn as saying last evening. Benn, who apologised to commuters and members of the business community affected by the situation, also said that the bridge’s maintenance team would continue to work to resolve the situation, though it was noted that it would have to contend with the high tide.
Speedboat operators used the opportunity to cash in both yesterday morning and afternoon. There were at least five boats loading at the steps per trip.
Speedboat operator Michael Osmond said that this is the time they were making “real money,” because of the rush and every operator wanted to make as many trips as possible. “Everybody want to load and nah wait in line,” he said.
Another operator, Ramsaywack (only name given), said while it was favourable for the speedboat operators, he was concerned about the manner in which some of the operators were treating the situation. “This thing will get out of control with them man [operators] here because them just a rush the passenger them and them gon end up fighting because some of them ignorant,” he predicted.
Up to press time last evening, there were no reports of damage to vehicles or injury to commuters.
On edge
However, since the announcement that boats would be allowed to operate at night was not made earlier in the day, the stellings at Georgetown and Vreed-en-Hoop were densely populated by the mid-afternoon.
At the city stelling, there was also a heavy presence of members of the Guyana Defence Force Coastguard and the police force and they threatened irritated commuters to maintain order or they would be locked out. One police officer was heard saying, “lock de damn gate and leff all ah them here. Den dem gon learn sense.”
Two men broke into a fight after one touched the other with a bag. Women screamed as people stepped on their toes and especially when anyone mashed their “expensive shoes” or pushed them so that they could pass. One woman who made it through the crush of people quickly and successfully, said, “is good I get a boat because I know how to bore a crowd.”
Angry commuters vented, saying that since the problem had occurred so early in the morning, the authorities had time to put systems in place to lessen the confusion. Others noted that “the two big Chinese boat” could have been used if the stellings were properly maintained.
The Georgetown ferry stelling is in a state of disrepair and one commuter noted that there was heavy siltation that might make it difficult for a ferry to operate. At the Vreed-en-Hoop end, the entire stelling has been transformed into a car park and vending area.
Ryan Stuart of Anna Catherina, West Bank Demerara, said he had left work early because of the predicted confusion at the stelling. He added that it took him approximately 30 minutes before he could get through the crowd and aboard a boat.
Another irate commuter, Glen Persaud, said that there should have been more order in place since “they [authorities] know this would have happened.”
Persaud said that if the stelling was properly maintained, it would have been much easier on the speedboat operators and the commuters as well. He said, “I had to close my shop two hours early because of this and is me gon suffer the loss.”
Parfait Harmonie resident Kerwain Downes also said it was a major inconvenience for him because of the confusion and he criticised the authorities for not being prepared to deal with the “crisis.”
After getting across the river, commuters encountered another difficulty in getting transportation from Vreed-en-Hoop to their respective homes. Many of the buses and hire cars were unable to get to the stelling area because commuters who usually drove to the city had parked haphazardly. Some commuters walked at least half of a mile before they were able to get transportation. Others, some living as far as five miles away, chose to walk home. Several persons were overheard saying that they would not travel to the city today as they would rather not repeat the experience.
A similar but less chaotic situation obtained earlier in the day after it was realized that the bridge was impassable.
At the Vreed-en-Hoop stelling, commuters trying to get to Georgetown to transact business and work complained of the major inconvenience caused to them by the mishap. A teary-eyed Saskia Persaud was afraid to travel in the speedboat because it was her first time and the boat was rocking. The 12-year-old said, “I cried while coming over in the boat because I was scared… I thought we would fall over when the boat started rocking.” Her mother Renita Singh explained that it was a very frightening experience for her as well, since she does not use speedboats on a regular basis.
Commuter Michael Boodram, who had been trapped on the bridge for approximately one hour yesterday morning, said it was added distress for him.
‘I heard a cracking sound’
Meanwhile, a bus driver yesterday recounted the terror that gripped him as his vehicle began slipping into the Demerara River while he was crossing with a load of passengers. Clive Clarke and his bus load of passengers, whom he was transporting to the city, managed to escape unhurt.
Clarke told Stabroek News that around the time the section of the bridge sank, he was driving across it. “I heard a cracking sound and with that I realised that the bus and the bridge started getting down in the water. I was so confused. I turn off the bus, run out and leave my passengers in the bus,” he said.
The De Kenderen resident added that when he realised that it was wrong to run away, he returned and assisted the passengers.
He stated that he had been using the bridge for years but never expected such an ordeal. “The experience that I gained this morning I would never want to gain back that experience,” he said.
The man noted that the mishap has left him surprised since workers are on the bridge regularly carrying out maintenance and he added that drivers have said that for a few days they had observed that the pontoon was sinking. “Up to yesterday [Sunday] drivers observed that the pontoon was sinking and I don’t know how the Harbour Bridge didn’t observe that,” he added.
Another driver, Rayzad Mohamed, said when he last used the bridge on Sunday, the section of the bridge that caved in looked funny. Mohamed, a Bourda Market vendor, was stuck at the Georgetown end of the bridge with his Canter truck filled with fruits. The man said that he is a resident of Cornelia Ida and was yesterday heading to Parika to sell the remainder of his goods.
“Up to yesterday [Sunday] the bridge look funny. From the end coming over from West Coast there was a slope piece that looked lil funny. It was never like that. When you coming up it does be straight up but it was lil slanted,” he recalled.
When questioned during a press briefing, General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Company Rawlston Adams said that bridge officials noticed a problem around 5.30 am when the bridge opened, but he dismissed reports from drivers that complaints are usually ignored. “I cannot speak to that but we are always here. We have staff here and always respond to anything. Our job is to keep the bridge going,” he stressed.
Parika resident Sirimatie Mangal said she arrived at the bridge around 7.30 am and met a lot of parked vehicles. The woman later heard on the radio that “no vehicle cannot pass” but she decided to stay at the bridge to see if she could possibly cross before the end of the day.
When she later learned that the bridge would not be reopened until possibly this afternoon, she was in shock. “I don’t know what is going to happen to this produce in here (Canter). I have all these perishables over $200,000 in greens and so on. I don’t know what I am going to do now,” she said.
Sherwin (only name given), a resident of Parfait Harmonie and delivery boy at Mario’s Pizza, was up to late yesterday afternoon still standing at the bridge hoping that he would have been able to ride to work. “I can’t go to work. I don’t know what to do,” he said, adding that in the two years he resided on the West Demerara he never expected the bridge to collapse.
Sherwin said he had no problem using the speedboat but he could not because he needed his motorcycle to work and that could not be accommodated on a boat.
Renee Peters, an employee of the Courtney Benn Construction Company, was unable to get to work. When Stabroek News spoke with him on the bridge, he was sitting on his pedal bicycle awaiting word. He said he usually rode across the bridge and had to reach to work for 11 am.
Peters explained that if he attempted to use the speedboat, he would be charged extra for his bicycle. He said that earlier someone had called his house with news of the bridge caving but he thought it was a joke until he saw it firsthand.
Electrical contractor Ganesh Lochan, of Anna Catherina, said that the situation had stalled his work in Georgetown. The man told this newspaper that he should have arrived in the city at 8 am to do a job but he was caught in the confusion.
He said that he had purchased all the materials for the job and in a bid to be on time he decided to go to the Vreed-en Hoop stelling to catch a boat. According to Lochan, the speedboat operator wanted $5,000 to transport his load to Georgetown. The frustrated man said he decided against that, because it made no sense since he would be losing. He said if he paid for the boat then “I ain’t gon mek nothing. All my money going in passage.”
A Montrose, East Bank Demerara sand truck owner was yesterday convinced that if two boards were placed at the collapsed area, he could have easily driven across. Motie Seodat said he was willing to take that risk because he had lots of work to do. He estimated his losses for the day alone at between $40,000 and $50,000. He said he was not scared to make an attempt to cross. “I could cross because I have people work to do,” he added.
