By Sue-Ann Wayow
PERMANENT works have commenced at the collapsed Manzanilla Road but taxi drivers who ply that route have concerns.
On Monday, they protested again.
President of the President of the Mayaro/Sangre Grande Taxi Association Joel Lezama told AZP News they felt they were being “mamaguyed” by the Ministry of Works and Transport.
He further said they were not responsible for the initial blocking of the road with concrete pillars neither the burning of tyres which occurred from as early as 3 am.
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“We usually start work from about 3 am. When we were going on that route, we saw the road blocked and we just trumped and followed suit. It worked in our favour,” Lezama said.
While hopeful that the road would have been fixed, he said it seemed as if they were getting false promises and an election ploy.
Lezama said he met with Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan when he visited the area on July 28, to launch the start of permanent works.
He was given the assurance that permanent work would begin and soon after, upon passing the site, he observed a lot of equipment on site.
Last week the equipment was not there for several days.
Then, this Saturday, equipment was brought back unto the site and according to Lezama, just a road scraping was done and equipment has again left the site.
Grass alongside the road was cut.
“The road is really bad. Every week, we have to face the mechanic. We want a permanent fix. What we feel we are getting now is an election ploy just to show that some work being done,” he said.
Lezama said, the topic of compensation was raised with Sinanan who made no promises but said “he will look into the matter.”
The protest ended at around 10 am.
Member of Parliament for Mayaro Rushton Paray issued a statement saying that a communication breakdown might have led to the protest.
He said, “The construction of a new 5K roadway was launched by the minister, but a communication breakdown might have caused today’s roadblock. I’ve asked the minister to clarify the $70 million expense for the 5K of roadway, which breaks down to $14 million per kilometre.”
Paray said Sinanan must inform the public about the design engineering of the new road to guarantee there would not be any future collapses.
He added that as the MP for Mayaro, he was eagerly awaiting the completion of the roadway, as it served as an essential economic link to Mayaro’s hotel and tourism industry.
Sinanan, during his last visit, admitted that the temporary solution was not ideal but was the better option since complete closure of the road would have been the other option.
He said with the new design by engineers, he is hoping that the road that collapsed last November will be able to withstand climatic and environmental changes.
While there was five kilometres of actual collapsed roadway, the ministry will be repairing 10 kilometres, Sinanan said.
He said then the road was divided into five packages and works would have started with three different contractors that day.
Sinanan also said there were contractors on site who will also be able to maintain the temporary road.
