South Rupununi bridge collapses with overweight heavy-duty truck

As calls are being made for the suspension of heavy-duty vehicles from traversing the Linden-Lethem road during the rainy season, residents of South Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) were left stranded after the Yamatwao Bridge collapsed while an overweight heavy-duty truck was crossing it.
A Toshao of one of the South Rupununi villages, Nicholas Fredericks, took to his social media account to highlight the incident, which he said occurred at about 17:30h on Friday.
He explained that the flatbed truck carrying an excavator was attempting to cross the bridge when the structure collapsed, leaving residents in the South Rupununi stranded since it was the only access bridge into the areas.
“… They thought it not wise to unload the excavator off the truck. Now we in the South Rupununi are cut off in the rain season, making it already difficult [and] now this. No traffic is passible presently, not sure for how long,” the recently elected Toshao of Shulinab Village said on his social media account.
The excavator that was being transported reportedly belongs to a Brazilian Miner, Cheong, and residents in South Rupununi are calling for him to repair the bridge.

Damage and cost to repair
Meanwhile, the Public Infrastructure Ministry on Saturday morning said a team has been dispatched to the site to “assess the severity of the damage and cost to rehabilitate” the bridge.
Nevertheless, the Ministry is calling on operators in the hinterland to pay keen attention to the weight limits.
Pointing out that this incident is not the first of its kind, the Public Infrastructure Ministry sought to caution that those who do not comply with the weight limits will be held accountable.
This incident occurred mere days after small operators traversing the Linden-Lethem road called on authorities to suspend heavy-duty vehicles from using the trail until the end of May/June rainy season. This call was made since the weights of those vehicles are causing the already deplorable roads to worsen, making them almost impassable and posing risks to commuters. In fact, it was pointed out that almost daily, vehicles are overturning along the trail, with the most recent incident being on Wednesday.
Only last week, commuters had complained bitterly about the condition of the roads, calling on Government to intervene and repair the sections that are almost impassable.
The Natural Resources Ministry on Friday announced that several interior roads have been contracted out to be rehabilitated, including the Lethem trail.
These works will commence after the May-June rainy season.