Following the ravages of Tropical Storm Erika, life has returned to normal in the south-eastern part of the island, MP for the La Plaine constituency Petter Saint Jean has said.
The communities of Delices and Boetica were completely cut off from the rest of Dominica when the Boetica Gorge Bridge was completely destroyed by the storm on August 27 and residents were forced to use a zip line to get goods across.
This is now a thing of the past, according to Saint Jean.
“For us in the south-east, life has returned to normal and we will do everything to ensure that those communities can get back to exactly where they were,” he said on Wednesday. “The residents of Delices and Boetica are singing their praises, the bridge crossing having been completed, access having been created to the two land lock communities on the 24th of December 2015.”
He stated the day was a great one for the people and he thanked them for their patience throughout the 17 weeks the two communities were cut off.
Saint Jean, however, said that there are still a few challenges on the roadway into Delices.
“I speak here specifically of the Victoria area where another section of the road actually caved in but from the information that I have the Ministry of Public Works is currently in the stage of preparing cost estimates for another bridge crossing in the Victoria area,” he explained.
He stated also that a contractor has been engaged on the east coast road where works are currently ongoing.
“That road was seriously compromised during the passage of Tropical Storm Erika,” Saint Jean noted.
He said cabinet is well aware of the state of the road and has taken steps to address the current road problems affecting residents of the south-east.
If “everything is back to normal”, then what are all these distasterous pictures I took of the area a couple days ago?
BEHOLD – the south-east is STILL AN ABSOLUTE DISASTER!
See for yourself here: https://www.facebook.com/gaiaecologique/media_set?set=a.1047383065299765.1073741850.100000842439136&type=3&uploaded=28
Mr minister what do you mean by “back to normal “?
How can life be normal in a section of Dominica where hardly anything is happening?
From Grand fond to Delice nothing is happening. ..
The south east went from bad to worst under this labour party regime?
You can begin by looking at the roads. .. nothing is happening. ..
If the minister has any degree of truthfulness in him, never would he say these things. ..
Hello paro storm your mind must be frying, with some white powder now.
Did you say nothing is happening?
Are you ok?
Some people love to criticize. They can never offer a compliment.
Everything takes time. Miracles could not have occurred to make building the bridge sooner.
Being back to normal also means they are able to travel freely to and from. After what they went through and the inconvenience of moving around, I am certain they are appreciative and thankful.
If “everything is back to normal”, then what are all these distasterous pictures I took of the area a couple days ago?
BEHOLD – the south-east is STILL AN ABSOLUTE DISASTER!
See for yourself here: https://www.facebook.com/gaiaecologique/media_set?set=a.1047383065299765.1073741850.100000842439136&type=3&uploaded=28
Please visit Delices and see if you hold the same opinion. From a person living in Delices.
– newly upgraded school unused and now in decay
– divided at Victoria
– Victoria bypass road a mess
– Alternative rd 1 mile ( old age people challenged)
– rubbish collection problem due to bypass
– some residents cannot get gas delivery truck (large bottle) due to condemned white river bridge
Do you live in Delices? 6 months is more than long enough. A joke is being played on Delices.
Dominicans are settling for mediocrity!
Hello and good morning from a snow bound NYC. Well this is a good start for the people of this area where they can go across but this isn’t a properly build structure. Based on the photo attached to this article and other photographs that I saw this structure won’t be able to survive another storm. This is very soft soil and the base is to close to the river edge and the support isn’t deep enough. They should build two , two hundred feet retaining walks on both sides of the river which would protect the base of the structure from soil erosion. The base should be fifty feet from the rivers edge in that way if the river overflow its bank it won’t wash away the bridge. We need to take ten of our brightest students and give them full scholarships to become Civil Engineers with specialty in road and bridge construction but once they finish school they should spend ten years working for Government to forgive their loans.
What a nightmare! Honestly none of the roads are fixed at all! Where the Bailey bridges are nothing is being seen to be done to repair and make new bridges. All over the island there are terrible holes in the roads. The landslides that have slipped and part of a road is left, nothing has been done to try to repair them or even see if they are eroding and could actually collapse and break causing imminent danger! There is still mud piled on the sides of the road from landslides left there to collapse and fall in again. It is so very, very depressing! The DNO keeps letting us know that so and so has contributed so much money to help rebuild Dominica! There is absolutely no sign of this being done at all. Where on earth does this money go?? Just so very, very depressing. The bridge that has been shown here is a temporary bridge!
What a nightmare! Honestly none of the roads are fixed at all! Where the Bailey bridges are nothing is being seen to be done to repair and make new bridges. All over the island there are terrible holes in the roads. The landslides that have slipped and part of a road is left, nothing has been done to try to repair them or even see if they are eroding and could actually collapse and break causing imminent danger! There is still mud piled on the sides of the road from landslides left there to collapse and fall in again. It is so very, very depressing! The DNO keeps letting us know that so and so has contributed so much money to help rebuild Dominica! There is absolutely no sign of this being done at all. Where on earth does this money go?? Just so very, very depressing. The bridge that has been shown here is a temporary bridge!
Back to normal?????????
Why is reconstruction taking so long…know there is a lot to do but a lot should be happening also…they do one they say they have to go ad meet again to do something else .stupes. ..get moving Government..listen to the people most affected?
Petter, what about the Delices to Petite Savanne road? Don’t you think that it should be back operational as an option in case something goes wrong with your bridge? So things are not fully back to normal in the south east. It will be closer to normal when your government reopens the road to Petite Savanne.
foolishness , back to normal, ha ha ha ,listen to a education minister,
st jean’ what is normal/ it is back to normal ,, but you have so much to do to get it back to the way it was, what foolishness is that ,
and we wondering ,why our youths are not progressing educationally / these are the examples
Are these stooges of the existing Labor Party even aware of their statements when they make public announcements? How on one hand can life be back to normal, in an area that was severely devastated by a disaster of such magnitude as Erica unleashed, where lives and livelihoods are still being affected? where the sources of income have been extinguished?, and at the same time roads are still impassable, and this man is declaring “life is back to normal”? is something morally wrong with the judgement of these men in government? or are they too deceived to realize their true condition and that of the island they feign to be governing?
Remember Mister St.Jean A river runs through it…..
Every time it rains the soil on both end is eroding slowly.I hope this is just a temporary solution because with continuous soil erosion and the endless weight of vehicular traffic on this platform the entire thing can collapse. Both end of this gorge requires a solid CONCRETE foundation from bottom to top.
Shame on you St. Jean! For that you, Skerrit, and the DLP had the people of Delices and Boetica separated from the rest of Dominica for FIVE LONG MONTHS? What a shame!
Garson if you know what that good for yourself is better you find a way to raise teachers’ salaries and stop using mandatory occurrences like a basic bridge to make yourself look good. Yeah right, “back to normal” after being cut off from the rest of the world and risking their lives next to a treacherous precipice for four months. But as the ways of the Dumb Lazy Party goes, so will their supporters follow. Let them continue to sing praises for nothing. Let them continue to sing for their supper. We already done know the magic formula. Free plywood, weekly stipends, some cooking gas, rum shop, and a plate of food, and you will have their vote again. 5 more years, 5 more years. It’s a shame Dominicans can be so easily bought, no wonder the country being sold right in front of them and they don’t complain. Sick society.