RESIDENTS of South Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara are pleading with the relevant authorities to construct two bridges to replace the two delapidated ones which at present jeopardise their safety because of their hazardous state of disrepair.

When this publication visited the area yesterday, several villagers voiced their concerns, and said that the “short-cut” bridge, as it is called, which joins Second Street, South Cummings Lodge to the other side of that village via the sideline dam, is a makeshift bridge which is being used by almost all on foot.

“That bridge is a death trap,” one female resident told this publication yesterday. She said it is even more dangerous to cross the bridge at night, since animals also traverse the bridge, leaving huge holes along the way. And this is compounded by the fact that some of the wood is rotten.

This reporter observed yesterday that traversing the bridge takes some negotiating, and would be a very difficult task to accomplish in the dark of night, since the street where the bridge is located is without street lighting.

The main access bridge, which is located at the head of Cummings Lodge from Crown Dam, Industry, is a large wooden bridge that is in dire need of repair; and drivers say that on many occasions they get stuck along that bridge, especially at night.Some vehicles have even been known to go overboard.

The approach to the bridge is, moreover, punctuated with huge potholes, making it quite unsafe to traverse after onset of darkness.
Written By Michel Outridge