Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

The Office of the Public Defender will be moving to secure compensation from the state for 13 of the 14 persons who were injured during the collapse of the Broadgate Bridge in St. Mary.

Public Defender Earl Witter told The Gleaner this week that his office was awaiting medical reports for the victims.

"The importance of these medical reports is that only with the benefits of the reports that we will be able to quantify or assess a proper measure of compensation," he explained.

Meanwhile, Mr. Witter said it will take months before compensation can be quantified for Ann Marie Reid, one of the victims whom he said had suffered serious injuries from the incident.

He said Ms. Reid, who is still a patient at the Kingston Public Hospital, had suffered memory loss, fractured limbs and head injuries.

"We would not want to rush to make a claim and then find out down the road that her injuries are more serious than had been imagined in the first place," he said. "We would want to proceed after we are quite satisfied."

Fourteen persons were seriously injured in February when the large swinging bridge, which links Broadgate and Mahoe Hill in St. Mary, suddenly collapsed into the river below.

At least 19 persons were on the bridge at the time. The residents were returning from a football match when the incident occurred.

Responsibility

Since its collapse, the National Works Agency (NWA) and the parish council have been at odds over who is responsible for the maintenance of the bridge.

But Mr. Witter said his investigation on this matter is still ongoing. He, however, notes that compensation will not be affected by who has responsibility for the bridge.

"It was the state that was responsible for maintaining the bridge in a condition fit to be traversed by pedestrians," he said. "So if the bridge collapses, the state is responsible, whether by the local authority or the National Works Agency."

He added: "So as soon as we are able to quantify compensation we should be inviting the state, through the Attorney-General's Department, to agree and pay compensation."