BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TODAY, May 14, marks one year since the bridge at the West Basseterre Bypass Road project collapsed and resulted in the tragic death of Vincentian Allick Toney and injuries to Guyanese nationals Mortland Watterton and Ian ‘Shatta’ Warde.
To date, however, no official statement has been made by the relevant authorities following investigations into the incident although the project is nearing completion.
Toney was pronounced dead on the scene after his colleagues retrieved his body which was buried under hundreds of pounds of freshly-mixed concrete, while Watterton and Warde were hospitalised in critical condition at the Joseph N France General Hospital.
SKNVibes has learnt that since the incident, Warde has recovered but Watterton is still suffering from injuries to his back and is unable to work.
While at the scene on that fateful day, Minister responsible for Public Works, Utilities and Posts Dr. the Hon. Earl Asim Martin informed members of the media that a “comprehensive report” on the incident was currently being compiled and written for the Ministry of Public Works by the various development companies, contractors and engineers who were directly responsible for the bridge’s construction.
He also extended condolences to the aggrieved family members and reassured them that the Ministry would investigate promptly to ascertain the cause of the collapse.
Three weeks following the tragic incident, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works Oaklyn Peetes said that investigation into the cause of the bridge was ongoing and should have been made public “any day now.” His statement was made in early June last year, yet the report, which was to be put together by the Public Works Department and the engineering company, Halcrow Ltd. out of St. Lucia, has been long-awaited by the dependents of Toney and the two injured men.
There have been many calls for the report to be made public, if completed. And according to Leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM) Lindsay Grant, an independent investigation should have been carried out as a matter of urgency.
Following Grant’s statement, Dr. Martin said that the overdue report on the tragedy had finally been completed and would have been made available to the public shortly.
“Mr. Mandis Singh from Halcrow Group Ltd., which is one of the companies that designed the bridge along with our own engineers at Public Works, and the directors of Public Works have given us a comprehensive report on what actually transpired,” Martin said in a November 14 press conference.
However, construction on the site continued within two months of the bridge collapse, and even after the completion of Phase One of the bypass road the public is still awaiting the report.
As recent as February, when asked about the progress made on the report, Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas said that the Attorney General, the Hon. Dr. Dennis Merchant, was reviewing the report and it would be made public shortly.
A year has passed, the first phase of the West Basseterre Bypass Road has been completed, government officials have made numerous promises to make the report on the bridge collapse public, but no official statement has been made to inform the general public or to comfort the grieving families after the tragic May 14 incident.
