LUCEA, Hanover — Finally breaking their silence after the collapse of the Hillsbrook bridge, some members of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) on Thursday flayed the National Works Agency (NWA) for what they say is the State agency’s failure to communicate directly with them on how it plans to assist.

At the same time, the local body has made it clear that though it does not have the expertise nor the funds needed, it will do its best to see that a solution is found.

“We are surprised by all of what is happening there. People’s life and well-being are at stake right now and I am certain that the municipal corporation will want to do everything that we can do to get it over and done with,” said mayor of Lucea Sheridan Samuels, who noted that two divisions are impacted.

The divisions are Hopewell, represented by Devon Brown (Jamaica Labour Party), and Sandy Bay, which is represented by the deputy mayor of Lucea Andria Dehaney Grant (People’s National Party).

The over-a-century-old bridge, which serves the communities of Flower Hill, Woodsville and Hillsbrook, has left these and other communities partially cut off.

It was compromised during torrential rainfall last April and collapsed last Saturday.

Mayor Samuels said the corporation will be doing all it can to assist councillors whose divisions are impacted. However, he pointed out that neither the corporation nor the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, under which it falls, has expertise in building bridges and will have to depend on the NWA’s assistance.

Minister with responsibility for works Everald Warmington and the NWA’s manager of communications and customer service, Stephen Shaw recently told a media briefing the role their ministry intends to play in efforts to address the issue. Stressing that the HMC has responsibility for the bridge, they said the NWA will only provide technical assistance.

The public comments did not go down well with Dehaney Grant, who made her feelings clear after the mayor gave Thursday’s monthly meeting an update.

She complained that comments are being made in the media without direct communication between the local authority and the NWA. She also repeated a complaint aired in the past: the NWA’s failure to attend HMC meetings. The deputy mayor said both parties need to sit and have a conversation on the way forward.

For his part, Samuels asserted that the ownership of the bridge should not be the focal point in any talks on the matter.

“There was some back and forth as to who owns the bridge, which I think should not be an issue. The issue is really to do what we can to ensure that this bridge is up and running,” he said.

“If they are going to give us the expertise, then the funding is what we really have to concentrate on. We are awaiting that so we can proceed at our ministry [of local government] to see how best we can get the funding to get that bridge up and running,” the mayor added.

Also during the meeting, Councillor Dehaney Grant pointed to the impact the collapsed structure is having on schools in the area. One of these is Blauwearie Primary, which is located on the Westmoreland side of the bridge. Some students and the principal of the educational institution are among those living on the Hanover side in Woodsville. They are among residents who will be forced to take longer and more costly alternative routes along shoddy roads.