Lawyers in talks over DHB damage by Oil tanker

By Leroy Smith

[www.inewsguyana.com] – While there has been no official report from the Ministry of Public Works or the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB), information now coming to hand is suggesting that the talks between local authorities and the management of the US Oil Tanker which slammed into the DHB early this month are ongoing.

iNews has been informed by a source that after intense negotiations between the two sides, there is a slight move forward following a brief deadlock with respect to the initial costing to the damage and who was liable.

iNews understands that lawyers for both sides have affixed their signatures to several papers with respect to the incident. While the talks are still ongoing and will be made public after everything is finalised, the discussions may take some time before it reaches to the point of finality.

General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, Rawlston Adams during a press conference on the night of a massive shutdown and repair operation on the bridge, had indicated that the total repairs to the bridge would have caused the government $20M and that price tag was likely to go up.

iNews was not able to confirm if there was a compromise on the price and if the figure was adjusted. However, Adams told the media that the company which owns the vessel has committed to paying for the damage.

The Demerara Harbour Bridge suffered extensive damage early this month and had to be closed for repairs for several hours after a fuel tanker slammed into the structure when the pilot failed to follow the directions of the bridge traffic controllers.

The impact caused the bridge to go out of line; hampering retraction for several days.