The Bridge Still Stands

The Bridge Still Stands

26 October 2025

On Friday, October 24, 2025, the bridge was suddenly closed. I first noticed it when people who are never late showed up late. They explained they had to take a detour because the bridge was shut down without warning. A press release soon followed: “Closed for inspection until further notice.” Yet, before lunchtime, it was reopened.

Later it turned out that the immediate problem wasn’t the bridge itself but cracks in the road above the viaducts leading to it. Soon, experts revealed that the bridge is 50 years old and is burdened by trucks far heavier than it was built to handle. Combine that with the construction boom of the last four years, and you can feel the weight pressing down.

But the cracks are not just in the concrete. Around the same time, Aqualectra officials appeared in Parliament to explain the latest blackout—a story far more confusing and technical than the one they first told. Add to that the June incident when the island’s internet went dark for 24 hours, leaving us completely isolated. One event after another, we see the same pattern.

Each time, communication is vague, delayed, or evasive. Each time, trust erodes a little more. Behind these failures lies a government apparatus that no longer has the capacity to enforce, inspect, regulate, or plan. Since 2010, the system has been systematically hollowed out—its expertise drained, its institutions filled with “family and friends.”

The bridge still stands, but the system beneath it is cracking. Reversing this decline requires more than courage; it demands competence. And that, I fear, is what we now lack most.

Miguel Goede