By Sue-Ann Wayow
MEMBER of Parliament for Princes Town Barry Padarath is questioning how contractors for the recently announced road paving programme will be selected.
In an article in the Guardian, Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales said that the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has been increasing its number of fixed leaks but as a result the roadways have been left in deplorable conditions.
He is quoted as saying, “In about two to three weeks’ time in every region, we are going to hire experienced road paving contractors and we are going to deploy them in every region to cut down on that backlog so the population will soon see an improvement in the quality of roads across the country.”
In a press release issued on Monday, Padarath described the announcement as a political gimmick.
Padarath stated that the Government was governed by announcements with little or no follow up action.
He called on the Minister of Public Utilities to immediately publish a comprehensive detailed list of roads that will be rehabilitated over the current financial year with clear dates for commencement and completion.
The Opposition Shadow Minister for Public Utilities stated that earlier this year, the government announced that the Ministry of Works and Transport would meet with WASA in an effort to work together on pothole patching and road rehabilitation.
Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan also announced a $300 million allocation for road rehabilitation and patching.
According to Padarath there has been no tangible evidence that these announcements ever materialised.
Padarath added that the recent revelation that WASA provides only 16% percent of the population with a 24 hour supply of water highlighted the inefficiency of the current minister and administration to address the woes at WASA.
