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By Nicole Telford- “The Bishop prayed but God didn’t answer his prayers to become an engineer. Bishop Juan Edghill is an incompetent leader and Minister of Public Works, not being an engineer has shown his gross negligence in allowing anyone to stockpile such large amounts of sand and stone in such a small and busy area.” So said David Patterson, Alliance For Change (AFC) Member of Parliament and shadow Minister of Public Works, in an interview with Village Voice News.
This comes after a stockpile of over 30,000 tonnes of stone by the Ministry of Public Works was stored adjacent to the East Bank Providence Red Road entrance causing a shift to the earth beneath the road during the afternoon of Thursday, Oct 12, 2023.
The weight of the stockpile is said to have caused a massive bulge along road bursting it open in several sections, from the entrance turning off East Bank corridor into Red Road and up to near the exit of the Amazonia Mall.
Patterson said, in addition to the gross malpractice which occurred, “the road was built as an entrance to housing communities in Providence and Perseverance, that is why the road was narrow, certainly not built to withstand the pressure it is currently under. The road in itself was never reinforced to support the large volume of heavy duty trucks transporting stone, sand, loom and other heavy duty equipment for road rehabilitation works in and around the area.”
The engineer further stated that he believes the force account unit at the Ministry of Public works is the only department resurfacing the roadway every few months since the pressure of heavy traffic continuously damages the road shoulders and causes several large holes in the road.
The Providence Red Road entrance has always cracked under the weight of heavy-duty traffic Patterson said, “even the youngest engineer in the profession would know that the weight of the stockpile was a raging catastrophe waiting to happen.”
The shadow minister stated “the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) lacks foresight and Planning skills to effect durable and efficient outcomes for projects they attempt.” He also queried if a simple mission to stockpile stone is this catastrophic what happens with larger projects under the purview of the Ministry of Public Works and the (PPP/C) Government.
