Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for Works, Everald Warmington, has stated that the Hillsbrook Bridge in Hanover that collapsed last Saturday, is not the responsibility of the National Works Agency (NWA), but instead, the Hanover Municipal Corporation.

However, Warmington, who was touring sections of Westmoreland on Wednesday, said the NWA has been assisting the corporation with the design and scope for repairing the bridge.

“If you want to know about the bridge, it’s a parish council bridge. That bridge belongs to the municipal corporation. NWA has been working with them. We are doing the design and the scope. When that is done, we present it to the Hanover Municipal Corporation for them to finance the project itself.

“But it is well advanced in designing and so on. But let me stress, it is not a Central Government bridge,” Warmington underscored. 

He added that: “We have 800 bridges that we are now responsible for that need repairs and renovation, but that’s not one of them. So we assisting the municipal corporation with the design and scope of work.”

The Hillsbrook Bridge crumbled on Saturday afternoon, partially marooning residents of a number of communities that are served by the facility.