The original Troy Bridge was built in 1869. Jamaica was a different world back then. There were no cars or trucks on our roads; it was built to carry donkey carts. It stood strong before electricity reached this area. Our great, great, great grandparents walked across it or worked hard to build it. It stood through generations of change and survived major hurricanes, like Charlie and Ivan, lasting for 152 years. The original bridge came out of a major turning point for our island. After the Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865, a royal commission found that Jamaica was not being properly run. To fix things, the colonial government restructured the island. They cut the number of parishes down from 22 to the 14 we know today. They launched a massive public works push that gave us the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), a new court system, the Rio Cobre Canal, many roads, and the first Troy Bridge. Now, it took us almost five years to build this replacement bridge. This new bridge is a deep lesson for all of Jamaica. It shows our internal struggles as an independent nation to deliver infrastructure quickly for our people. Ultimately, it marks a moment of reconnection and persistence. This is part of our story, and it belongs to every single one of us.(Andrew Holness)