TANCOO: Fallen pipe rack at Godineau Bridge finally being cleared after 8 months

Finally, after more than eight (8) months since its collapse, the pipe rack attached to the old Godineau Bridge at the Mosquito Creek in South Oropouche is only today being cleared by the Ministry of Works and Transport (see attached pictures).

Oropouche West MP Dave Tancoo says that while this is a welcome move, it is one that should have been attended to many months ago. Tancoo along with the MP’s for Oropouche East and Fyzabad have constantly spoken to the dangers posed since the pipe rack collapsed in October last year, adversely affecting residents as well as the southern fishing community.

Tancoo says that having had the entire 2023 dry season to clear the blockage when the river levels were much lower, it is somewhat counter-intuitive for the Government to only now attend to this matter; one that they had promised to address urgently.

When the thirty-six inch (36”) main transmission line ruptured last year, mere days before the festival of Divali, it rendered thousands of households without a pipe borne water supply, at a time that was critical to South residents, especially members of the Hindu community. One media house identified twenty-two (22) large communities in the South region that were negatively affected.

While the pipeline was eventually re-routed, the collapsed infrastructure was left uncleared, presenting a significant obstruction in the Godineau river to fishing vessels and a flooding risk. The Members of Parliament were not the only ones to appeal for the urgent clearing of the collapsed pipe rack, but also Local Government representatives and members of several NGO’s and Fishing Associations.

MP Tancoo says that together with the removal of subsided rack, he hopes that the Ministry will perform a thorough job by also clearing any and all debris that would have accumulated in and around the fallen infrastructure, as a result of it remaining there for such a long time.