By Prior Beharry
TRAFFIC is gridlocked in and around Port-of-Spain on Monday as some residents staged protests by burning tyres and throwing debris across roads.
Areas where protests were reported, according to the Officer of Disaster Preparedness and Management are:
- The Beetham Highway be between Production Drive and the Lighthouse;
- Nelson Street;
- Duncan Street;
- Queen Street;
- Independence Square; and
- Chacon Street.
Protesters also set tyres on the SWMCOL compound at Sea Lots on fire and fire officers are on the scene trying to extinguish it.
See photos taken by AZP News Photo Editor Azlan Mohammed who is on the scene:
Armed police officers are trying to restore order and the ODPM has advised of traffic restrictions from Production Drive westbound on the Beetham Highway and along the Abattoir Road, South Quay via Priority Bus Route.
The police and Fire Service quickly cleared debris along the eastbound lane of the Beetham Highway just before 11 am and then residents of Sea Lots lit fires and started to throw debris just after the flyover. Bottles were thrown at armed police officers.
Both the east and westbound lanes of the road at Sea Lots near to the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) were blocked with debris.
Fires were also being reported on Duncan Street just before 12 noon.
The protests are in relation to the police killing of three men over the weekend.
Police killed three men after the vehicle they were in crashed into the wall of Republic Bank at the corner of Chacon Street and Independence Square around 3.20 am on Saturday.
The police were chasing the car and after the crash, the occupants began shooting at them. Three men were killed while two others escaped.
Dead are Fabien Richards, 22, his nephew Isaiah Williams, 17, both from St Barb’s in Laventille and Niko Williams, 21, of Beetham Gardens.
