PoS Traffic Woes
THE EDITOR: Before I travelled out of Trinidad for a much needed period of rest, I wrote Minister Franklyn Khan concerning the daily gridlock encountered in commuting from St James to my downtown office. In my letter I stated as follows: “Two years ago I contacted the Traffic Management Branch and suggested that the traffic lights from Richmond Street to Charlotte Street (that is Park Street of course) be synchronised all green, all amber, all red.” The response was “it used to work like that before but it broke down and we never fixed it.” Are we waiting for gridlock all over Port-of-Spain and environs before any action is taken? And what about all those illegally parked cars on main thoroughfares such as Frederick Street, St Vincent Street and Park Street?
Are those persons who park there above the law? Occasionally, I travel out of Port-of-Spain to Arima, Sangre Grande and points east. I am concerned about the mile or more morning traffic heading into the City. Surely, spending two to three hours on a congested road trying to get to work must result in maximum stress and minimum efficiency. We are not on a highway, we are on a stress-way! When will we see the interchange in action? It is ok for the privileged to avoid traffic by having police escorts, outriders etc, but what about us common folk? Almost a month later I continue to travel to my office from St James and the gridlock continues as it has for well over two years. One continues to inch one’s way along Park Street encountering the seven or eight changes of traffic lights, the blocked intersection at Park and St Vincent Streets and Park and Frederick Streets, the double parking of vehicles on St Vincent Street, Park Street etc during rush hours, and the total traffic chaos that has been foisted on us by a succession of incompetent and grossly negligent administrations.
Add to this the crazed and suicidal driving of most Trinidadians of all shades and castes, the utter stupidity of pedestrians who jay walk with the “bounce me naah” attitude and we have a society not unlike Haiti. At least Haiti can offer an excuse. We have none. We act, behave, talk like a bunch of cretins and we wonder why our society is on a steady and serious decline despite all the fantastic natural and human resources we possess. What is it? Lack of leadership? Lack of respect for ourselves and our country? Lack of concern for our generation and the generations to come? If I am critical of the present conditions in this country maybe it is because I have been ultra nationalistic but I am prepared to remain that way when I consider our vast potential. There are far too many hypocrites and whited sepulchres in this country. A lot of “all talk, no action” self seekers. There is no point talking about 2020 unless we overcome the muddled 1920 thinking hurdle.
M HOTIN
St James
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"PoS Traffic Woes"