Bridge collapse - killing five people
The Costa Rica government announced on Saturday that it is allocating us$15 million for the reparation of 10 bridges, two days after a tragedy that took five lives and sparked a barrage of criticism against the ministra de Obras Pública y Transportes, Karla González.
Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias, personally visited the site of Thursday’s tragedy, reiterating his support of González, his transport minister during his term.
The money will come from a us$65 million World Bank loan approved this year for dealing with emergencies and which could be available to the ministerio de Obras Pública y Transportes (MOPT) in the coming weeks.
The country’s two leading Spanish language newspapers, La Nación and Diario Extra,strong criticism of Gonzalez, seconded by members of the opposition parties who demanded her resignation due to the bad state of the bridge that collapsed last Thursday as a bus went over it.
The bus fell from the bridge, which dates back to the 1920s, into the Tárcoles river in Turrubares, west of San Jose, leaving five dead and dozens injured.
Some of the survivors told reporters that they heard a loud noise when the cables holding up the bridge broke and the next thing they knew the vehicle was in the water.
In its editorial Saturday, La Nación said that the bridge “collapsed under the weight, not of a bus, but of the fecklessness of a government incapable of setting priorities and taking care of even the most elemental security requirements.”
La Republica, also in its Saturday editorial, said that “this is a case in which a resignation should be considered” since “it isn’t possible to just turn the page and go on as before, when there are five people dead who would still be here if priority had been given to prevention, prudence, discipline and a heightened sense of responsibility.”
The $15 million announced by the government will go mainly to improving those 10 structures that is “critical” state of repair.
The resident of Turrubares, as well as the municipal council had asked on several occasions the MOPT to fix the suspension bridge, requests that went unanswered.
Thursday’s tragedy could have been avoided if it were not for the bureaucracy of the Costa Rican government, as the materials and plans to replace the Turrubares bridge were stalled for the last seven years. Steel to be used specifically for the replacement work are in Tibás MOPT work yard rusting away.
Ministra Gonzalez has defended herself, saying that approaching the bridge there is a sign banning heavy vehicles and apparently the structure was damaged the day before it fell by a truck that crashed into part of the bridge.
The ministra added that most of the bridges in the country are in a poor state due to a lack of maintenance and abandonment for more than 40 years and it will take some years to come to begin to see an improvement.
Source of article: InsideCostaRica
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