Imbert: Vehicular traffic to be restored to Valencia in two days

Noting that a section of the Valencia Road had been washed away, Imbert said the ministry was constructing a temporary steel bridge, which is capable of taking heavy traffic. The bridge comes in parts and can be assembled within days, the minister said.

He said the ministry had also began to restore access to the school in Matelot by reconstructing the pedestrian bridge which had been washed away. But with respect to the situation in Vega de Oropouche, the ministry would have to wait until the rain stops and the water subsides to begin remedial work.

Imbert said all the ministry’s senior personnel had been working in the north eastern part of the country since Monday. He said this section had been severely affected by torrential rains coming from Tropical Depression Gamma. "That band of heavy weather has been moving up and down the island chain between Trinidad and Tobago and St Vincent, and it dumped a tremendous amount of rain in Trinidad," he said. He added that it dumped six inches of rain in St Vincent within a short period and has caused a lot of trouble in that island.

Imbert said he had been in touch with senior engineers since Monday in an effort to deal with problems early on.

On the disruption caused by the washing away of a section of the Valencia Road, Imbert said the ministry was working quickly because it understood that most of the quarries in the country were located in this area.