Khan: City needs new drainage plan

PORT-OF-SPAIN needs a new drainage plan and the Ministry of Works and Transport is prepared to help the Port-of-Spain City Corporation (PoSCC) to develop such a plan. This was disclosed yesterday by Works and Transport Minister Franklyn Khan after a sod-turning ceremony for Phase II of the Diego Martin Highway Extension.

Referring to last week’s floods which ravaged parts of Port-of-Spain, the Minister said, “Port-of-Spain as a city needs a new drainage plan. One has not been done for many, many years and the city has grown phenomenally over the last several decades. “That responsibility falls within the PoSCC. I have spoken to the Mayor and the Ministry of Works is available to provide some assistance in developing that drainage plan,” Khan said. He added that the project would have to be consulted with a specialist engineering consultancy firm, but he was optimistic that a drainage study of the city would begin soon.

The Minister said an expenditure of $25 million for consultancy on the National Transportation Study (NTS) was justified, given the scope of the works the study entailed. He disclosed that a secretariat had been established within the ministry to monitor the NTS consultants’ work with the ultimate goal being to transfer those skills locally.