City Council condemns temporary bridge

The Belize City Council today got official word from Belmopan that it will be responsible for the management and operation of the temporary bridge across the Haulover Creek. But a quick and fiery response from City Hall indicates that those who run the city’s affairs are anything but prepared for such an assignment. In a three page press release, the City Council said the pedestrian crossing is an “unsafe structure” and made it clear that it will not assume any legal liability for accidents that may occur as a result of its usage. A letter from the Ministry of Works notifies the Council that the Swing Bridge will be closed on May twenty sixth, the same date on which the new bridge will be pressed into service. The City Council’s press release outlines a long list of faults with the one lane crossing, which it says prevents it from assuming responsibility for any accidents that may occur there. These include, the absence of locking keys to ensure that the pins holding the joints together are not dislodged by accident, key pieces of the bridge that are designed to move don’t have provisions for lubrication, the public has easy access to the lifting mechanisms and that there are no built-in safety redundancies in case the breaking mechanism fails, which would send the drawbridge crashing down. The Council ends its press release by saying that because it had no involvement whatsoever in the planning of the project, it cannot reasonably assure the safety of Belizeans where this bridge is concerned and therefore must respectfully decline the Ministry of Work’s proposition that it assumes authority and responsibility for it.