Tuesday February 9th, 2010
- Last update:14 hours 56 min ago
Relatives ask: Why wasn’t bridge replaced?
Published: 6 Nov 2009
Relatives of three men who perished in yesterday’s incident at the Bailey bridge at Macoya are blaming Government for the tragedy, saying the temporary Bailey bridge should have been replaced months ago. Hours after the tragedy, residents of Latchoos Road, Penal, gathered to mourn the deaths of well-known contractor Rohan “Bobby” Maharaj, 35, and his two friends—Kishore Kumar, 30, and Anil Mohammed, 30. They were killed while heading to the National Quarries for a truck-load of sand, shortly after 5 am yesterday.
Maharaj was the owner of B&B Transport and Stockpile Company who often employed residents of the community. Kumar worked as a self-employed carpenter, while Mohammed, of Goodman Trace, Penal, was a certified electrical inspector. In an interview yesterday, Maharaj’s father, Roopnarine Maharaj, said the deaths could have been avoided if the Government had spent money to replace the broken bridge. Roopnarine said several people already had died at the temporary Bailey bridge because it was narrow and risky to passing motorists.
He said Maharaj was a good driver who took his trucks for inspections on a weekly basis. He added: “My son takes good care of his trucks. He has two smaller trucks and two ten-wheelers. Every week he takes them for maintenance. I want to know how that truck could have ignited,” Roopnarine said. “He could drive tractors, cranes, excavators, backhoes, overloaders and ten-wheeler trucks. He was always careful on the road. He always taking his time on the road.”
He also said the bridge was located in a heavy traffic area. Roopnarine said: “So long the Macoya Bridge broke down and the authorities never bothered to fix it. They wait for something to happen then to do something about the bridge.” Maharaj’s children—Anipa, six, Adrian, eight, and Narissa, 11, —held each other as they heard of their father’s passing. Maharaj’s nephew Avinash Maharaj, who won the 2009 Mastana Bahar competition, comforted his cousins Anipa and Narissa.
As with everything else that
As with everything else that goes wrong in Trinidad... Blame the Government...Apparently we are not responsible for our own actions any more. The bridge didn't collapse but from the pictures shown it appears that it was driven into. How is that the government's fault? If anything the Gov't should be blamed for turning a blind eye for so many years, allowing these wrecks onto the road, allowing untrained drivers a driver's licence by simply bribing the licence officers and not putting pressure on the police service to enforce the laws. I am truly sorry for your loss but you people are cry and moan for everything and do very little to change or to help change the way things are done in Trinidad & Tobago.
So So true, the bridge is
So So true, the bridge is being reconstructed and the road is also being widened to accommodate three lanes, most people seem to think that it is a quick fix. Do these people making those stupid comments about replacing the bridge know that under the temporary one the permanent one is being built, do they know gov't could have converted the westbound into a dual carriageway and suffered road users and left the road closed until construction is over. Truck drivers are the biggest road hazards, they drive recklessly, speed way over the limits, they always hog the road and never yield to other drivers. A lot of them also drive with their loads unsecured but will they every learn....
It appears that the
It appears that the relatives of the 3 dead men who lost their lives on the bridge have gotten stupid with grief or they are just mentally insane.
While I do extend sincere condolences to them, everyone knows the road conditions there yet choose to be either speeding or switching lanes just as they approach the bridge.
I can only imagine how fast this truck was going when it hit and moved the bridge.
Every single day you can see motorists zig-zagging between the Macoya traffic lights and the Bailey Bridge, others choosing to speed up on what's left of the shoulder, then cut in on the drivers on the left lane, and sometimes even "drifting" over to the extreme right. Maxi taxis and regular taxis are the main culprits.
http://dsaltsman.blogspot.com/
While I do feel the pain of
While I do feel the pain of this family for losing a loved one, they must face reality and not try to blame anyone but their son for this mishap that took along 2 innocent lives. Drag Racing expert, Rawl Mahabir was interviewed and spoke about the ill effects of a speeding vehicle. I can only assume that at the hour that these guys lost their lives, they were speeding to get to their destination. Sleep and tiredness could have also been contributing factors, but speed was the main cause of these fatalities.
When will we ever learn? I am sure that if you were to observe the highways today, nothing has changed. Truck drivers still drive at high speeds and sometimes in a reckless manner. These deaths would have meant nothing to them.
I agree, I really am sorry
I agree, I really am sorry for the lost, but the reality is that the driver was indeed speeding.We as human beings think it will happen to someone else and not us, that is why we live so reckless
i hope they all had some life insurance policies.
My sincere condolences to the families.
While people do need to take
While people do need to take responsibility for their own actions the fact is the Bailey Bridge as observed in the pictures seem to lack impact-resistant barriers. These men lives would have been spared and the damage to the bridge minimized if these barriers were utilized. In deed looking at the pictures of the bridge I can see how it is easy to just crash into it. The beams and external structures just sit there in the middle of the road it seems. I dont even notice any reflectors.
Here is the link to a picture of the bridge:
http://www.newsday.co.tt/day/1,35590.html#foto
Don S. NY
You mad or what. Do you know
You mad or what. Do you know how many of those new fancy barriers have been placed leading up to the the bridge and how many get lick away by careless drivers? They get destroyed almost as fast as they get replaced. Up until recently one got pitch in between the railings of the two bridges and got stuck. It has reached the stage where I have begun to wonder if drivers weren't deliberately knocking them out because there are so many warning lights leading up to the bridge it is like christmas and divali everyday and night I can't believe that they hitting them accidentally.
I admit that none are there in the picture that you have linked to but that is probably because they were either destroyed in the accident or removed to facilitate removal of the truck. And yes there are reflectors - you see the red strip on the end? They all inside too red and white - look another red piece next to the first man in the picture who looking down at the mash-up area.
Anybody who thinks that the place is poorly lit or don't have enough signs should go an see for themselves - it is embarrassing the amount of stuff that is there. Too many drivers just too duncy-head. Read epsonsalts comments higher up to know what does be going on there.
I have to agree with the
I have to agree with the Minister of Works the owners of the truck should be billed for repairs to the bridge. The bridge did not move and hit the truck its the other way around. Drivers please exercise caution on the roads and thank God no other innocent motorists were killed or injured in this accident.
It is too early to assign
It is too early to assign blame in this accident.
An independent investigation needs to be carried out.
Yet we have Minister of Works Imbert already assigning blame to the dead driver (excessive speeding) and vowing to recover the cost of repairs to the temporary Bailey bridge (sometimes the line blurs between "temporary" and "permanent" in T&T).
So much for an independent investigation.
Since the driver is dead I guess that they will have to try to collect from the insurance company.
Good luck with that one! The rest of us have to wait 10-15 years to get our compensation from these same companies.
But is the minister opening the flood gates for citizens injured in vehicular accidents to now sue the state for negligence and non-enforcement of traffic and road regulations?
Off the bat, I can think of improper lighting, poor signage, lack of markings, poor road construction and design, improper repairs and then ineffective enforcement of existing laws ....
In today's Guardian a letter writer says:
"Digicel had a number of women dressed in red mini-skirts and a man in a Santa Claus outfit with big banners which distracted drivers who slowed down to see the exhibition. As soon as we passed the Digicel people the traffic was moving quickly."
Let me understand this
Let me understand this -
Signs post up, lights lit up, daily and nightly everybody else using the bridge... and reaching home and to work safely... but for these unfortunate chaps, the bridge should have been replaced??? And what one of the relatives on TV saying: "it too close to the traffic"??? IS AH BRIDGE!! If it wasn't in the vicinity of the traffic how people would get to the other side??? These men was bussing a lime and a cook up - then went and drive a ten-wheeler truck. Last week some men buss a lime and a cook up, and end up dead after drinking something bad. Seeing a bloody pattern of destruction here?
Grief is grief, but doh sound like you yuhself drunk at the same time nuh man, try and make sense.
Just so everyone is informed
Just so everyone is informed - they were starting the process of widening the two lane bridge to three lanes when it had originally collapsed last year. With the collapse, the original two lane has been replaced by the two bailey bridges while construction commenced on the new third lane not long thereafter.
The third lane is nearing completion after MONTHS of work and ought to be ready in soon at which time they will probably decomission one of the bailey bridges and rebuild the other two lanes one at a time. Can't really blame Mr. Imbert for this one much as I hate to admit it.
Why is the government being
Why is the government being blamed for this tragedy? I guess that thae are being blamed for everything else, why not this. A few questions need to be asked honestly;
1. Was this truck driving itself?
2. Was the truck aware that there are speed limits on
the roads?
3. Why was the bridge not held accountable as an accessory to
this accident since the bridge must have been moving when
it was hit?
As absurd as these questions are, it is more absurd to put the blame on the government. The blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the truck operator.
While I feel the pain of the family, they need to stop making excuses and face reality.
Jessie, thank you for the
Jessie, thank you for the information about the existence of impact-resistant barriers and reflectors on the Bailey Bridge. Don S. NY