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Vehicles drive along the Argyle main road on Saturday, where cracks began to appear on Friday. (IWN photo)
Vehicles drive along the Argyle main road on Saturday, where cracks began to appear on Friday. (IWN photo)
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Officials from the Ministry of Transport and Works were late Saturday afternoon devising a response to an earth movement along the main road outside of the construction site of the Argyle International Airport.

Cracks that appeared in the area, including along and across the road, had worsened overnight, causing utility companies to relocate their infrastructure to the side of the road furthest away from the boundary with the airport.

Chief Engineer Brent Bailey told I-Witness News around 5 p.m. that he was on site and would be better positioned to brief the media on the response later Saturday evening.

Workers from electricity provider, VINLEC, along with their counterparts from telecommunication providers LIME and FLOW were on site Saturday morning to relocate their infrastructure, as VINLEC moved its poles to the opposite site of the road.

General manager of CWSA Garth Saunders, right, and other CWSA staff at the site  on Saturday. (IWN photo)
General manager of CWSA Garth Saunders, right, and other CWSA staff at the site on Saturday. (IWN photo)

General Manager of the Central Water and Sewerage Authority, Garth Saunders, along with staff from the engineering and other departments of the company, also visited to inspect and prepare for the possible relocation of the water pipes in the area.

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The road remained open to vehicular and pedestrian traffic, but an engineer told I-Witness News that officials may have to consider a diversion in the area, to relieve stress on the earth.

The engineer said that the earth movement could be worsened by rain.

Acting Prime Minster Girlyn Miguel visited the area Saturday morning and was briefed by Bailey.

Another view of some of the crack. (IWN photo)
Another view of some of the crack. (IWN photo)

14 replies on “Officials mull response to earth movement along Argyle main road”

  1. Clement Percival says:

    A question for anyone who can answer! Was the Environmental Impact Assessment done by Kochs Consult on this project ever made public? If it was, (and even if it was not but anyone had a chance to have a look at it,) what did it say about this problem developing, and the cost of remedying it? Another challenge then for Mr. Samuel. See if you can get hold of a copy, ( ask for it formally) and use your engineering skills and knowledge to interpret it, especially with regards to this problem! There are others that the EIA pointed to, but a trained engineer would be better placed to speak to all.

  2. Lawd have mussy everything in SVG falling apart. And that is not the end of it yet, there are many traps that are going to fall down and kill people years after this government is gone. Common sense would tell you that building a road on backfilled dirt would need special techniques and nobody come and tell me about professionals, SVG is a country surely lacking of professionals. Remember it was professionals who built the houses on 8 inch columns too.

    Boy Eustace I feel sorry for you. It’s not an easy country you are going to get when these guys are done. I mean gimme a break, the same thing happen on the runway that had to be redone, it’s at Claire Valley, it’s at another housing site. This is just crazy, we sacrificed all our industries for the sake of construction and yet the work is subpar. Our debt is like a mountain and we still have nothing to show for it. Look at how a few select people on a gravy train have destroyed the country that my ancestors who came in chains built. Yes my ancestors came here in chains and if yours didn’t then I would understand why you wouldn’t care but have mercy man enough is enough.Sometimes the only thing left to do is ball.

  3. Sorry to see the damage on this piece of road, but mot often than not it’s expected with new infrastructure. Sometimes sooner than later and it would be a miracle these do not happen. Reasons can range from poor construction, compacting of the soil or another nature’s way: an earth tremor. I don’t think this is reason for panic.

    What I’m sure going to happen is the opposition and it’s lynch mob and the leader of the pack “Peter Binose” will be blaming the PM and the ULP for this.

    1. yeah… it will be impossible to undertake major construction without seeing effects like these afterwards, because there is no way to anticipate, plan for or mitigate against them… at least not in St. Vincent.

  4. Blane, you guys are so negative may the good lord helps you all. You guys wish for so much bad things to happened to SVG are you guys for real? Remember the SVG Building and Loan Association? What was the response. Wish for it to FAIL. What we’ve witness today regarding the said B&LA, it’s continued survival of this great financial institution. The Housing program. Wish for it to fail. The ongoing construction of the Argyle International Airport, wish for it to fail. I could go on and on. The economy, wish for it to fail. Does this makes any sense?

    How would the NDP respond to all of this? Earth movement has a lot to do with what we’ve witness over the weekend at Argyle. I’m no expert on anything. But from recent discussions with one of my villagers, who happened to be a certified building contractor told me that earth movement has a lot to do with certain cracks on buildings roads etc.

    1. So when the ULP previously vowed to make the country ungovernable, was that not to “Wish for it to FAIL”. Or now the shoe is on the other foot we change the rules.

      It’s always funny how we try to pretend that all the things the ULP did in the lust for power never happened. Suddenly everthing that was unacceptable in 2000 is now the new standard.

      “..certified building contractor told me that earth movement has a lot to do with certain cracks on buildings roads etc.” – Wouldn’t it be the opposite

  5. The more they’ve wished for SVG to FAIL, is the more progress we are seeing taken place around the country. I am one who embraces progress no matter which party in office. Often times I’ve said that the NDP has some good ideas too. It takes all of us to move this country forward.

  6. whether you NDP or ULP one thing is clear here that what ever the ULP put their hands on it turns to smush. For all the wasted monies there’s nothing to show for it except a very divided people. Very typical of white people divide and rule. We or so consume by what we can get even if it is at the detriment of the country we dont care or we just fail to see, as long as its not happening to me its all good. We never use to be like that we use to look out for our neighbors.Now we have this foolishness of red and yellow.

  7. These things happen anywhere. A road in Spring Village, that has been there for years was undermined and is falling in on one side. How come nobody saying anything about this? Who do you blame?

  8. These things happen anywhere. There is a road in Spring Village that has been there for years has been undermined on one side and is falling in. How come nobody speaking about this? Who do you blame? Then how come nobody speaking of the dangerous precipice in Coulls Hill on your way to Troumaca Bottom?

  9. Clement Percival says:

    Let us try to get off the party support posture and deal with facts , ugly and stubborn as they might be. An Environmental Impact Assessment Impact Study for this project was done. Was it made public? The EIA pointed to certain problems that would arise, and the need and ways to correct these. Was this one of those? How will we, the people of this country, know, if this information, like so much about this project, was not made available? Again, let me plead with my country people, to think for themselves, and ask the appropriate questions. The costs will come due down the road! It is not about who support whom, which is everybody’s right. It is about who will pay for what when the time comes!! Let me assure all. The accounts WILL become due!! So please, open your eyes and your heads!!

  10. Randy I don’t normally waste my time replying to people who talk without substance but ama make an exception for you this time so don’t let me down.

    1.When you says Progress what do you mean? by whose metric is this progress measured?

    2. I am not NDP, I am one of them who wanted to see James F Michelle go to jail for money that the ULP accused them of taking and for 14 years in office not one soul in jail. So my conclusion is that it was all lies.

    3. I want you to list these progressive things that are taking place in SVG and i promise that I will show you how they do more harm to us than good.

    Come on Randy, don’t let me down, tell us about all the progress.

  11. Clement Percival says:

    The Morrises are incorrect on technical grounds. Go back to the EIA, which was irresponsibly not made a public document. The solutions might just be there. The issue could be the additional costs. These costs will however be incurred, one way or the other. Also, at the time when the EIA was done, it may have been inopportune to release it, since the questions raised might have questioned the wisdom of proceeding with the project in the way proposed. I want to plead with people to stop advancing positions that are not sustained by facts or proper reasoning.

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