Chief Engineer in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labour, Albert Jn Baptiste, has branded the actions taken by persons, in the aftermath of the Ti Rocher (Castries) landslide, as irresponsible and dangerous.

The Chief Engineer made the statement in response to the removal of barriers by members of the public at the site.

Due to heavy rains which occurred last week, the road is presently unsafe and not  suitable for use.

“As a result of the heavy rains that we experienced, a retaining wall on the Ti Rocher road collapsed. On the advice of technical staff it was decided to close the road to ensure the safety of the general public. It is rather unfortunate that it has been brought to my attention that the barriers used to close the road were removed by certain individuals and the road is open to traffic. This is extremely dangerous, and this is unfortunately irresponsible because it is putting the lives of innocent people at risk.”

The Chief Engineer went on to ask individuals to refrain from such actions.

“We wish to implore the members of the public to refrain from such activity. The road as it is, is considered to be unsafe because the wall which held up a certain section of the road is no longer there. That means with load on the road without lateral confinement, the road can collapse at any time. Presently the road, as it is, is unrestricted to the movement of heavy vehicles and a loaded truck, or a heavy piece of equipment could trigger further failure of the road structure. Therefore we wish to advise the general public to refrain from removing the barriers once placed.”

The ministry aims to begin construction on the reinstatement of the retaining wall by next week Friday for the latest.