By Sue-Ann Wayow
EXCESSIVE water from the Nariva Swamp has been posing a problem to the Mayaro-Manzanilla Road along with speeding drivers and heavy trucks.
So said Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan in Parliament on Wednesday.
Sinanan was asked for updates on the road by Member of Parliament for Mayaro Rushton Paray since the temporary by-pass road has already began causing problems for commuters.
Problems in that area are not new as in 2014, the road collapsed after being flooded out.
Sinanan responded, “Investigations have indicated that these failures were as a result of excessive water flowing from the swamp. The Nariva Swamp is the largest swamp in the country and currently there are 11 catchments with eight points of entry into the swamp. Due to global warming, this flooding event is likely to increase in frequency. It is also a very highly sensitive area.”
The diversion has a speed limit of 40 km per hour on the roadway that was built using milled material to connect Sangre Grande to Manzanilla and Mayaro.
He said, “However due to motorists not adhering to the speed limit and heavy vehicles using the roadway to access the energy facilities in the Mayaro area, from time to time, damage to this roadway will occur.”
Sinanan said the ministry checks the roadway weekly and undertake maintenance work when required.
“Up to two days ago the roadway was checked and deemed to be in a satisfactory condition based on the challenges of the area,” he said.
With the long term plan for a permanent road structure, the minister said his ministry was undertaking the designs and all the studies to facilitate the construction of a new 10 km road in collaboration with several state agencies and the University of the West Indies.
Sinanan said, “What we don’t want to happen is what happened in 2014 where over $40 million were spent and a couple years after, again, we have to go back and rebuild the road.”
He added, “When we construct the road in the future, we want to make sure that the road can withstand and do not damage the Nariva Swamp.”
When asked by Paray if the permanent road would be completed by September/October when there is the height of the rainy season, Sinanan said several requirements needed to be met to ensure no damage to the swamp.
“The ministry does have a structure to ensure that we should be able to get out of the ground before the rainy season but it is not a road that we just have to repave. We have to rebuild the road and we have to make sure that the conditions that prevail…on that part of the island, the roadway can withstand the pressures that are anticipated going forward,” he said.
