By Marlon Madden
President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Dr Ronnie Yearwood is taking the Government to task for leaving bridge and roadworks projects in St Lucy and St Andrew incomplete, which he says now poses a danger to pedestrians and motorists.
But in the administration’s defence, Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Public Works Santia Bradshaw said several challenges including weather, the need for fresh assessments, supply chain challenges and “internal issues relating to management” were responsible for the delays in many instances.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday afternoon, she gave the assurance that the work would continue and the Government would be giving an update in the coming weeks.
The recently re-elected DLP president raised concerns on Thursday morning as he started what he said was the first of his Community Connect initiative to hear, understand and highlight the concerns of the communities across the island.
The areas he visited included Pie Corner and Lamberts in St Lucy; and Walkers, Trio Path and St Simon, King Street in St Andrew.
Pointing to the bridge at the junction of Pie Corner and Well Road, Yearwood complained that after work started there five years ago, there was no indication when it could be completed. He called on the Government to give an account of how much had already been spent and what was budgeted for that bridge.
“We have had about $300 million in loans from the IDB [Inter-American Development Bank] and China for roadworks and this is the result. Can the Minister come and tell us how much this bridge to nowhere . . . has cost over the last five years to do this?” he said.
“This is not a promise, but this is a commitment from the bottom of my heart that we will invest and develop Barbados to make sure the people of St Lucy, St Andrew, St Joseph and St Peter can have a decent standard of living. In 2023, we should not be fighting up for any road.”
Stressing that people in rural communities deserved better, Yearwood said he was concerned that should there be severe flooding in that area that leads to the picturesque Cove Bay, over 300 residents could be cut off and the island’s tourism product affected.
“Are we going to wait for something to happen or are we going to be proactive and fix the issues?” he questioned.
The DLP president also questioned why the Members of Parliament for St Lucy and Andrew were not pushing to get the bridges fixed and roads completed.
“If you ran out of money, say so; . . . if you are unsure when you start something and you think it is not going to work, come and say ‘we were trying this and this is not going to work, we are going to try something else’, but talk to the people,” he insisted.
“I am lost for words for the state of these bridges and some of the roads.”
Highlighting the bridge in Walkers, St Andrew, he said: “This bridge is obviously in a precarious situation because if this bridge is cut off then this community is cut off. This should not be. This cannot be Barbados in 2023. We should not have roads and bridges as central issues in Barbados to deal with.”
When asked to justify why the last DLP administration did not tend to some of those same bridges prior to 2018 when it was voted out of office, Yearwood contended that the Member of Parliament for St Andrew during that time was a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) representative and should have pushed to get the work done.
“You could cast blame on this government or this body or that person, but the reality is that governments are continuums and you have to serve the people,” he added.
Some residents in the areas visited said they were concerned about their safety.
At Pie Corner, St Lucy, resident Morgan Greaves said; “Our main concern is the flow of water that comes from that bridge. It is a real heavy flow and it is very frightening for the residents when you see a certain amount of rainfall. And the length of time that it is taking this project to be done, it is too long.”
One Baxters Road, St Andrew resident who did not want to be identified said she was fed up of having to walk almost half a mile to get to her vehicle since the road leading to her residence had been closed for some time.
“A number of roads are falling in,” she said, “If we get little bad weather, all them bridges in Dark Hole ain’t saying nothing.”
The repairs to bridges and roads in the St Andrew and St Lucy areas are being done under the Chinese-funded $320 million COMPLANT/Scotland District Road Rehabilitation and Improvement Project which is scheduled to last about three years.
During the course of the project which began last year, about eight bridges and several roadways in several rural districts are to be rehabilitated.
