Minister of Works and Infrastructure Surujrattan Rambachan says 98 bridges located throughout T&T are in dire need of reconstruction. Speaking at the opening of the D’Abadie Bridge which is located between Bon Air and Maloney Junctions, Rambachan said the 80-year-old bridge had been reconstructed by the Programme for Upgrading Roads Efficiency (Pure) at a cost of cost $19.7 million.
He said Pure, a specialised unit that emerged out of the restructuring of the Highway Division in 2012, has saved his ministry an estimated $250 million which could be used to build 20 other bridges. He said there are 62 other bridges were earmarked for reconstruction. “If you take this money and average a bridge at $12 million, you could build 20 bridges. That is a tremendous value and I thank PURE for their sacrifices,” the minister said.
“There are 3000 bridges that are the responsibility of Local Government. In 2012, we assessment across the country and discovered that 98 bridges needed to be fully reconstructed because there was major structural deterioration. Lopinot/Bon Air West MP Lincoln Douglas said his constituents will be happy to know there about significant amount of development taking place in the community. Villagers said they were grateful for the bridge and had waited a long time for it to be refurbished.