‘So, when it rained this week, because some smarties forgot to level the road and put in drainage, an entire lane flooded’
WHEN our nation’s leaders drive around our country, do they feel proud?
Do they feel at all?
Do they have a magical pair of shades that make every road look freshly paved and smooth, every drain clear of debris with crystal clear water placidly flowing, public parks and recreational grounds perfectly manicured filled with smiling, happy families?
Seriously, do they?
Because if I was an elected official here in T&T I would feel all the shame in the world looking at the mess, this country, my country, that I have been elected to care for, is in.
This has been on my mind for quite some time now. Everywhere I go, everywhere I look, everything is falling apart. Even the “new” things appear to be quick cash grab, slap-and-dash projects.
Take for example the billion-dollar flyover by Westmoorings that no one asked for; it’s a hot mess. Apparently, the engineers and designers forgot about this wonderful thing called water and ways to mitigate its effects. So, when it rained this week, because some smarties forgot to level the road and put in drainage, an entire lane flooded.
‘If you were to look around, you would swear you were in a country that is dying. Nothing is maintained, nothing is kept, everything is just left to rot’
Here’s another aspect of this particular project that aggravates me to the point where it is unbelievably comical… you that joined where the pavement meets the roadway to form a drain… yeah you know what I am talking about… okay, well imagine seeing that join aka drain constructed in such a way that the “drain” is higher than the road. So, you have road, this stupid stub toes inch high raise, the supposed drain and the pavement. Explain this to me please.
The hard part is that people are getting paid for this nonsense and the government men in charge will all smile, clink champagne glasses and we get a big fancy road, that makes no sense, that no one wanted, isn’t it pretty, vote for us!”
As such the people of the west now have a questionable roundabout, flyover combo, but still have sit in miles of traffic to get in and out of the Carenage and Chaguaramas, two very busy areas with poor road servicing all the beachgoers, boaters, hikers, bikers, diners, fishermen, amusement park goers, and so on, who flock to the peninsula every weekend.
Makes lots of sense that flyover.
‘Endless water leaks… the pitch gets more water than I do at my house… going on three weeks and no water in my taps… bless the water trucks’
I drove through Maraval after the flooding last week and apparently, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management didn’t get the memo the area flooded. There was no ODPM presence, nor did I see any Corporation workers. Instead, I saw, and what we always see anywhere it floods, exasperated home and business owners shovelling mud and debris.
I notice a lot when driving, and I wish I didn’t because it’s beginning to negatively affect my already questionable mental health.
Our pavements are a disaster, our roads are safety hazards, our green spaces are overgrown and waterlogged. Electrical and telephone lines hanging from decrepit poles. Endless water leaks… the pitch gets more water than I do at my house… going on three weeks and no water in my taps… bless the water trucks.
If you were to look around, you would swear you were in a country that is dying. Nothing is maintained, nothing is kept, everything is just left to rot.
Perhaps the most haunting is the Scallywag Bay amusement park and boardwalk facilities constructed by the Chaguaramas Development Authority (an organisation that in itself is a whole mess). It’s completely abandoned. A pond once used for paddle boats is now only about a quarter filled and serves as a maternity ward for mosquitos. The car park is marked by craters and wild plants. The actual amusement park is an eerie skeleton of what it used to be, just sadly sitting there, suspended in time, being degraded by the elements.
All a waste, a waste of our money, because as with all government projects it was funded by tax dollars. Money down the drain… perhaps the only reliable drain in T&T.
It’s painful and frankly, a slap in the face that we are being bombarded with pleas for votes for the upcoming Local Government Elections… in case you didn’t know the LG is largely responsible for the upkeep of our national spaces.
I urge our politicians to take those magical shades off, to look around and ask, “Am I doing enough? Am I proud to call this my nation? Are the people who trusted me to run their country, proud of their decision to put me in charge.”
Maybe if they see things, how we see things, we will see a change in our national infrastructure, a change that we can all be proud of.
Wonderfully written Alicia
When will they look and listen
Spot on as usual Alicia
When will they look and listen