interior

Protest held after bridge collapse

Residents say that the government is dragging its feet in replacing the 40-year-old bridge.

Virgilio De León/LA PRENSA

rivers to cross:Río Potrero residents have had to improvise after a bridge in their community collapsed last week.1062745

A group of residents from the town of Río Potrero closed the Pan-American Highway Monday morning demanding that the government replace a bridge that recently collapsed.

The protest caused a lengthy delay for motorists using the highway. It lasted for more than two hours.

The residents are upset that the government has not come up with a plan to replace a vehicular bridge over the Río Burunga, which was washed away during a flood last Wednesday. The bridge's collapse means that some families have to walk 45 minutes to get across the river.

Community spokesman Raúl Espino said the situation is serious, and closing the highway was the only way they could get the government to pay attention to the problem.

Residents have been asking the government to replace the bridge for more than 10 years. While some work was done, including a study commissioned by the Ministerio de Obras Pública (MOP) in 1999 which detailed the costs and logistics of replacing the bridge, the project never progressed beyond that point.

Espino said that it was no surprise to anyone in the community that the 40-year-old bridge eventually collapsed. What has the community riled up, however, is that little has been done since it then.

MOP official Jorge Pitalúa met with the demonstrators and told them that a temporary bridge could be erected in a relatively short period of time.

Pitalúa said that the issue will have to be studied and the ministry will have to request funding for a new vehicular bridge.

“Building a bridge that costs $500,000 is not something we can do overnight,” he said.