Unamco bridge, road collapses

Jul 14, 2012 News

Following five hours of continuous rainfall, the Unamco Bridge collapsed last Saturday evening. Unamco is located in Upper Berbice. The Kerimeru Creek runs under the bridge and leads into the Berbice River.
Kaieteur News understands that as a result of the bridge collapsing, over $20M worth in lumber is stuck in the backdam on the left bank of the creek.

The Collapsed Unamco Bridge

According to sources, the Upper Berbice Logging Association and the Small Loggers Association are among some of the companies affected by this.
Meanwhile, a section of the Unamco Road has also caved in as a result of the continuous usage by logging trucks on a daily basis.
Speaking to this newspaper, was one of the loggers currently affected by the situation. He said that during a meeting earlier this year, the Guyana Forestry Commission had indicated that it would have looked into the reconstruction of a stronger bridge and the rehabilitation of the damaged sections of the road. However, to date this has not happened.
He also reiterated that it is quite unfair that they have to pay large sums of money for permission to conduct logging activities in that area and when something like this occurs the relevant authorities make no effort to render assistance to put corrective measures in place.