Trafalgar to Wotten Waven Bridge nearing completion; vehicular access restored to Delices, Boetica

The bridge was donated by the government of Jamaica
The bridge was donated by the government of Jamaica

Transportation will be made easier for residents of the Roseau Valley as a Bailey Bridge being installed in that area is nearing completion.

At the same time, vehicular access has been restored to the communities of Boetica and Delices, which were cut off from the rest of the island since the passage of Tropical Storm Erika in late August.

The Trafalgar to Wotten Waven Bridge in the Roseau Valley was made available to Dominica by the government of Jamaica.

It is being installed where the previous bridge connecting the communities stood and which was washed away during Erika.

On his Facebook page, Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, thanked the people and government of Jamaica for what he described as a “most generous gift.”

”Special thanks to Honourable Portia Simpson-Miller (Sister P),” he said referring to the Prime Minister of Jamaica.

According to him the bridge is expected to be completed immediately after  Christmas.

“Once completed it will no doubt enhance prospects for tourism and an improved way of life for the residents of Wotten Waven and Trafalgar in particular. We are getting back on track one day at a time,” the Prime Minister said.

Meantime, commenting on vehicular access to Boetica and Delices, MP for La Plaine, Petter Saint Jean, said the road has been rough.

“This year’s Christmas holds special significance for the La Plaine Constituency as access to Boetica and Delices was finally achieved,” he said on his Facebook page. “It was a long, rough road but we made it through.”

During the passage of Erika the Boetica Bridge was completely destroyed, cutting of the two communities and creating a challenge for residents.

Residents had no choice but to use a zip line to cross the gorge where the old bridge once stood.

A vehicle crosses the Boetica Bridge
A vehicle crosses the Boetica Bridge

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14 Comments

  1. Floridian diaspora
    December 29, 2015

    There is a creature on here called MIA that commented on this post. Him, her, it, or if it’s human at all said that this is called development. NEWS FLASH!!! This is not called development, this is called REPLACEMENT. Development is when forward progress is being made. This bridge is a replacement for the one that got damaged. So tell me where is the development? Seems like you MIA have ran out of things to talk about so you just keep running your mouth uselessly. Thank you for the bridge Jamaica but calling this development is doing injustice to this Dumb Lazy Party (DLP). In Dominica, we are not moving forward. We are only going in circles. That’s why we keep on coming back to where we’ve started. This bridge is just a reflection of what our condition in Dominica is right now. “A bridge over troubled waters”

  2. Cool Callaloo
    December 29, 2015

    only trouble is everything temporary will become permanent as everything else in DA

  3. hmmmm
    December 28, 2015

    Yes good to see progress, but if a state of emergency was called all the bailey bridges would have been in place months ago and boats to ferry people back and forth would have been available. No boats owners would have been able to charge poor people 100ec to town,etc. People buried in rubble may not have died as appropriate equipment and expertise would have been made available (statement based on reliable info) We have a long long way to go, and we are not ready yet.

  4. December 28, 2015

    For once the present and past government of dominica cannot build a bridge where two vehicles can meet going in different directions? YB

  5. waiting
    December 28, 2015

    So what about the Elmshall Bridge? They really forget us in that little hole… :( . I feel so sorry for the pedestrian who traverse under the Elmshall cliff unless something happens then we will get a bridge.

  6. December 28, 2015

    It was a testing time for us in the Delices/Beotica area, we endured and we succeeded. Thank you Parl Rep. God Bless you and your family and the government of Dominica.

    • Barbara Saunders
      December 29, 2015

      Ma doris/La Plaine

      I am not from your area but can imagine the trauma which you suffered. Thank God you all have been relieved and thank God for the work done by the authorities in trying to bring normalcy back to your area.

      I have been watching the international news over the holidays and it is floods in the UK, tornadoes and floods in the great USA, making cars look like toys floating away and houses like hundreds of cardboard cartons spread out like cards all over the place. I saw people in the UK queueing up with gallon bottles to fetch water from some temporary storage tanks, no power, no water in this miserable winter season.

      They might have done so, but I do not recall seeing or hearing any of the citizens cursing and criticising their governments for what has befallen them or why they are not fixing it immediately.

      I wonder whether we in Dominica can learn something from them or are we too far gone?

      • BEB
        December 30, 2015

        I do not know when are they going to learn. The haters thinks that is only in DA unusual things happen

    • BEB
      December 29, 2015

      I would like to know what the haters will have to say now, all those who took it to the radio talk show host, saying that the govt. kept the people of the area in prison. They cant realize that there were many challenges, the engineers had to put their heads together to develop ideas and plans to put that bridge together in Boetica.
      DNO! I’m looking forward to see my response.

  7. Dual citizen
    December 28, 2015

    One step at a time. However, since this is a temporary measure, let’s make the permanent bridge higher and more resilient than the one constructed before.

    • LawieBawie
      December 29, 2015

      Although I agree with you about the height of the bridges, special consideration must also be given to the placing of their footings much further away from the river course than we have been doing over the past years. I dare say that the position of the bridge footings is what caused the bridges to be destroyed more so than their heights.

  8. MIA
    December 28, 2015

    praise god for the progress, one day at a time. ITS CALL DEVELOPMENT

    • December 28, 2015

      MIA are you sure that you know what progress really is ? if you call that progress then it’s only a face saving comment.

  9. me
    December 28, 2015

    Great. Elmshall now

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