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Tug and barge owner pays off debt for damage to Harbour Bridge
The owner of the barge that hit the Harbour Bridge in 2020 has paid in full for the damage that was caused.
Kaieteur News – The Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) yesterday announced that it has received the final tranche of outstanding payments from the owner of the tug and barge that slammed into the bridge on December 9, 2020.
DHBC in a brief statement outlined that the owner of Rediston and Surtrans, D. Sookram, is no longer indebted to the company.
Kaieteur News had reported that the barge slammed into the Harbour Bridge causing it to shift out of alignment and as a result of the hit, only small vehicles and mini-buses were allowed to cross until the necessary repairs were completed.
The barge had damaged the high span of the bridge and consequently disrupted the smooth flow of vehicular traffic for persons seeking to cross from the East and West Banks of Demerara.
The Harbour Bridge is the main link between the two banks of the river.
The Maritime Department had issued instructions for water taxis from Georgetown to Vreed-en-Hoop to continue to operate late into the evening until the bridge repairs were completed.
When Kaieteur News had visited the Stelling at Stabroek, shortly after the incident, persons had already started to gather in their numbers in order to utilize the boat service there to cross the river.
Subsequently, an agreement was signed between the DHBC and Mr. Sookram for a payment plan, which required him to make an initial payment upon signing and the balance in quarterly installments until the completion of payment.
In 2019 too, a tug and barge had slammed into the bridge and the owner was ordered to pay $100 million to the Government to repair the damaged structure.
That incident happened on September 2, 2019.
On that occasion a tug, Marina Oceanic, and a barge, manned by Cubans and registered in Panama, crashed into the Harbour Bridge, badly damaging the decades old structure and leaving hundreds of commuters stranded for several hours.
That resulted in the bridge remaining inoperable for almost 36 hours.
Under the laws, the cost for fixing such damage to the bridge must be covered by the offending parties.
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