Government exploring alternative transportation for bailey bridges

The government is now forced to seek alternative ways to bring in a quantity of bailey bridges donated by the St Lucian government.{{more}}

A shipment of 100 metres of bailey bridges was expected to be transported here by the French Naval ship, the Dumont-Durville which brought a quantity of humanitarian supplies last Friday.

Due to size constraints however, the ship was unable to bring the supply of bridges over, Senator Camillo Gonsalves – Minister of Foreign Affairs, said.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves had announced the St Lucia donation during the recent handover of a sum of money raised during a disaster relief radio-thon.

The arrangement, according to Gonsalves was that over time this country would give back to St Lucia the amount given.

“Because we purchase bailey bridges from time to time,” he explained.

He further explained that there were a number of areas that needed immediate attention, for example the Caratal bridge in Georgetown.

The Caratal area requires 23 metres of bailey bridge the Prime Minister said; the other projects would require significantly less.

Gonsalves said that Minister of Transport and Works, Senator Julian Francis was doing something different by putting metal into the base of the river to facilitate temporary bridges.

This he said would facilitate trucks travelling to the northern side of the country to resume business in various sectors including the construction, production – in the case of the distillery, and the agricultural sector, Gonsalves said. (DD)