The Opposition coalition group A Partnership for National Unity is laying blame for the collapse of a main access Bridge in the Rupununi community at the feet of the Government.

The bridge fell apart on Thursday as a heavy-duty truck was transporting an excavator across it. The Government said the bridge was built just over a year ago but residents in the community have said it was in a state of disrepair.

In a Friday afternoon statement, the APNU said “the recent collapse of the Moco-Moco Bridge in the Rupununi Region brings into sharp focus the unacceptable state of roads and bridges in the North and South Rupununi Savannahs.”

APNU officials and Members of Parliament have been visiting a number of the interior communities over the past months as part of an outreach initiative.

The group today said there is need for a comprehensive plan for the Infrastructural development of the Rupununi Region (Region 9).

According to the APNU “it is a travesty that the even though Billions have been allocated in the 2013 Budget for roads and bridges, none of that money will be spent to build paved roads and steel reinforced c0ncrete bridges in the Rupununi Region.”

The bridge which collapsed was a wooden bridge.

The main opposition group says it wants Government Ministries and agencies that are involved in transport infrastructure development for the Rupununi Region, to immediately mount a comprehensive investigation into the state of roads and bridges in the region.

The statement added that priority must be given to building paved roads linking all the major population centers and villages of the North and South Savannahs, together with an all-weather highway linking Lethem to the coast through Linden.

The Government Information Agency in a release on the collapse of the bridge announced that a report is being prepared by the Regional Administration which will then be sent to the relevant authorities as part of the probe.

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