Cruise ships cause jams

THE EDITOR: I wonder whether it has not occurred to the authorities that every time a cruise ship calls at the Port-of-Spain docks, there is a massive slow-moving traffic jam stretching from Wright-son Road to a considerable length of the Beetham Highway. This jam spills over into Independence Square and would last for as long as the ship is in port which averages about twelve hours. The jam disappears completely as soon as one gets past the traffic lights at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. One can only conclude therefore, that the cause is due to the entry and exit of taxis to and from the Port area whenever a tourist ship happens to call.

It is possible that a cost benefit analysis of the lost time, the wear and tear on man and vehicles and the expenditures made by tourists, (whenever they happen to disembark), might show a negative out turn for our country. It seems, therefore that unless measures are put in place to avoid these seemingly unnecessary jams, the country could very well be better off without these visiting erstwhile tourist ships and their human cargo.

ERROL O C CUPID
Trincity