Lane at Jack’s wall opened
The northbound lane on the Windward Highway along the newly constructed Jackâs Wall at Ratho Mill has been reopened.{{more}}
The lane, which was closed for about three years, was reopened on Wednesday, July 20, 2011.
The northbound lane was closed on September 19, 2008, after 60 feet of retaining wall surrounding a property owned by Alex and Lisa Jack came tumbling down on 67-year-old Patricia Jack-Bowman, killing her in her vehicle as she headed to her restaurant at Canash.
A major contributor to the tragedy was the eight inches of rain that was recorded over a 48-hour period. Since the accident, commuters have been using an alternate road which took them through Ratho Mill, close to an old Sugar Mill and the Sugar Mill Academy.
Alistair Campbell, Deputy Chief Engineer in the Ministry of Transport, Works, Urban Development and Local Government, speaking to SEARCHLIGHT last month, stated that the Ministry was involved in the quality control and monitoring of the construction of the wall. He said the Ministry has done a lot with regard to the design of the wall, going as far as consulting with the University of the West Indies, St.Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago.
On September 18, 2009, a Coronerâs Inquest into Jack-Bowmanâs death ended with a five-member jury ruling that the cause of her death was manslaughter, a result of negligence on the part of the engineer and contractors who constructed the wall.
But in a letter dated October 14, 2009, addressed to Nicole Sylvester, one of the lawyers who represented the estate of Patricia and Alban Bowman, Director of Public Prosecutions Colin Williams said he decided not to indict anyone in relation to the death of Jack-Bowman.
The DPP told SEARCHLIGHT that his decision was arrived at after careful consideration of the facts of the case.
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