After years of neglect, Llandewey bridge collapses

Livelihoods have been disrupted and many have been left disgruntled in Llandewey, St Thomas, after a bridge in the community collapsed last Friday.

The residents said that their constant cry to the authorities to fix a bridge in their community is yet to be answered.

Phillip Henry, who has been living in the community for 58 years, told THE STAR that the bridge has been defective for more than two years.

"The community always a try to fix it and use wood to hold it up because this been going on for a while, but it gone bad now and we can't fix it again. Right we don't know what is gonna happen but they need to get it fixed, we are suffering," he said.

Stanford Wilson said "A two year and four month that bridge bore a hole. We constantly a call the MP, prime minister and nobody come look pon it."

After a gaping hole appeared in the floor of the bridge in 2018, residents appealed to the authorities to do something before things got worse. While the authorities turned a blind eye, the hole widened, and the community's worse fears were realised last Friday night after the wheel of a truck fell in the ever expanding hole, rendering the structure impassable.

Heartaches

It has now resulted in heartaches and mounting costs for the residents of the rural community who must use the bridge to reach areas such as Yallahs in the south and Cedar Valley in the north.

"Me have me young chicken them over me yard that want feeding and me can't leave to buy nothing, so them probably soon dead off," Wilson said. "All the taxi fair double because people have to pay $130 to get drop off at the bridge then another $100 if them decide to take something so further up, because some people live all three mile up from the bridge."

The bridge was declared defective by the National Works Agency (NWA) who also announced plans to replace it some two years ago. Since it collapsed last Friday, motorists have been forced to take a detour route through a river bed, which was since rendered impassable following heavy rains.

"Mi tired fi talk about it. It just like we a waste we time. Mi really nuh have nothing more to say. Mi a tell you the truth," said one taxi operator who plies the Yallahs to Llandewey route.

Nadine Morgan added: "We just feel frustrated and bad. Right now there is no way in or out of the community unless you plan to walk a distance to get a taxi on the other side. Everybody weh come turn back."

As for one business operator, Janet Davis, the recent disruption has left a dent in usual operations.

"Right now everything is a dead-end for me because no vehicle not coming through for I to sell anything," she said. "Even the doctor to come up the health centre, them can't come, everything is on slow."