By Sue-Ann Wayow
ONE more rainy season and the road leading into the rural village at the Heights of Aripo will be no more says residents.
To publicly highlight the issue of the only access road to the village from the main area, they got together on Tuesday to show on their social media feeds the road’s conditions. From 7 am to around 10.30 am, they walked the roads demonstrating the worst parts.
President of the Aripo Village Council Harold Diaz told AZP News that the road that leads to the Valencia/Sangre Grande Main Road was to become inaccessible, some 1,000 residents would be stranded.
He said both local government representatives and Member of Parliament for Arima Pennelope Beckles were aware of the grave situation.
“This road is one way in, one way out. We have made a lot of attempts to have the road fixed. We had a meeting with the MP last week and she told us she could not give us an answer as to when works would start or when it would finish,” Diaz said.
Through the MP, the Ministry of Works and Transport was being informed he added.
Diaz said with a good road, vehicles could reach in the village within ten minutes but now, it takes 30 minutes in and out of the Height of Aripo.
He said there were approximately up to three miles of roadway in need of urgent repair he said.
“With all the landslips that occurred since the last rainy season, where there was about eight to ten feet of roadway in width, there is now about five feet in width,” Diaz said.
He also said a public transportation bus suffered suspension issues as a result of the road and was currently not servicing residents.
The Heights of Aripo has had other challenges in the past due to its remote location as it was an area for murderers to dump bodies.
Since then, with the implementation of street lights and support from police officers based at the Arima Police Station, criminal activity has greatly reduced as residents devised their own crime fighting strategy.
With one major road in and out of the village, another resident has set up base at the entrance/exit.
“The Checkpoint,” villagers call it as from that location where he now resides, he is able to monitor each vehicle moving in and out of the village.
Additionally, Diaz said in the past, people waiting at the bus shed would be robbed, women harassed and there would be a lot of strange men lurking around.
Since setting up “The Checkpoint” about one year ago, Diaz said there have been “zero cases.”
He commended the police officers who he said were very cooperative.
Villagers had that added sense of security when they can contact officers directly who would assist immediately when called upon, Diaz said.
AZP News has contacted the Ministry of Works and Transport for a comment.
