Infrastructure Minister Stephenson King has confirmed that Saint Lucia experienced no major infrastructural damage from Hurricane Beryl.
On Thursday, the minister provided a “status report” on the state of the country in the aftermath of the hurricane which was later downgraded to a tropical Storm.
“We have no major infrastructural damages much of our response was about clearing of roads, fallen trees, unblocking of culverts and drains,” King told reporters at a media briefing.
“But generally, we seemed to have survived quite nicely and I do hope that in the months ahead, mother nature spares us as we continue to endure the hurricane season,” the minster added.
He acknowledged the efforts and input of the ministry’s staffers, including the chief engineer who spearheaded the preparatory works.
The minister said that ahead of Hurricane Beryl, the department had implemented certain initiatives, geared to ward off the impending storm. These included, developing a Pre- Hurricane Programme, which is a preparatory programme to prepare the department for the hurricane season.
He explained that the process involved a review of the department’s operating procedures to make sure that all was in place, in terms of readiness. The programme also entailed mostly, the clearing of minor infrastructural waterways, gutters and drainage across the country.
The Honourable Minister said that the department also undertook the ongoing desilting programme to ensure that the major ravines and rivers were desilted. He said the purpose of delisting is to ensure that flood-prone areas are cleared of debris in the waterways.
Prior to the storm, the department also instituted its Community Cleanup Programme throughout the country.
The minister also spoke on the stability of bridges incorporated in the road network and maintenance programme. He esaid the department employed a special unit, entitled the Road Maintenance Management System (RMMS), which is described as an asset management system, put in place to assess infrastructure in the country.
The process involves the assessment of bridges, carriageways, suspended road and other aspects of the island’s road network.
The minister explained that data is collected periodically, and that the engineers would have to go in there to assess the flexibility of the bridges and the suspension of the bridges, since each bridge is designed differently.
Citing the importance of using specific equipment to undertake these tasks, he said, “We cannot continue to react to the aftermath, we cannot continue to react when a bridge collapses, when a culvert collapses and when a landslide takes place.”
According to him, “We have to pre-empt the activity. If you are able to assess the stability of that bridge, to say, we are seeing some signs of either undermining of the abutment walls or the cross beams are corroding, we need to repair them.”
Minister King said that the assessment is a very important matter, and one of the areas that they are placing serious emphasis on.
He explained that the Materials Laboratory Unit, which tests every bit of material used in construction in Saint Lucia to ensure that the quality is good, structurally sound and can give a life-span on the infrastructure that we can be satisfied.
He said, the department is set on liaising with the Taiwanese to gain knowledge on the use of requisite modern equipment and new technologies we can adapt, to ensure that generally, the country’s infrastructure is constructed and the materials used are adequate.