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Works CEO Says Blame Drivers For Accidents, Not A Bad Bridge
posted (November 23, 2017)
The Ministry of Works CEO says "Don't blame it on the Bridge." As we have reported there were 3 accidents near the St. Margret's Bridge on the 19th weekend causing 4 fatalities. Harold Smith, Keith Frazer and their friend Marlon Flowers died in one accident on their way to Burrell Boom on Sunday afternoon while Glenn Reneau was killed in an accident on his way to Dangriga on Saturday night. Now the families all agree that the bad conditions of the bridge caused these accidents but CEO Gentle has a different perspective.

Errol Gentle, CEO, Ministry of Works
"We need to be very careful as drivers because we continue to upgrade the highway and every time we upgrade the highway, every single highway in this country that has been upgraded we have accidents and it is because of speeding or some driver error the thing is, to be very honest a road or a bridge don't cause accident it is the driver."

"I went out there and I am certain you were out there as well and the first accident coming from Dangriga I saw exactly where the vehicle start running in the gravel and that was before the bridge and also with the second one I saw where the break marks were and that again was before the bridge."

"So while I sympathize, I am a human and I have a heart and I sympathize with the families but the Bridge did not cause the accident."

"Because of the accidents and it is regrettable we had those accidents we decide to do some temporary measures as you may know the plan is to upgrade that entire stretch of highway and all those one lane bridges will be changed , those will be replaced with proper two lane bridges."

As you heard the overall plan is to replace all the decades-old one lane bridges. This is part of the Hummingbird Rehabilitation Project that was signed 2 years ago and has about 2 years more to go before it comes to an end. As we told you, Ministry of Works along with their partners will be putting some temporary fixes such as safety barriers and reflective stickers until the full project is completed. Gentle says these one lane bridges should be replaced in about a year.

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