Favouritism in highways expansion?

THE EDITOR: Another ambitious superhighway project, Wallerfield to Manzanilla is in the pipeline (Newsday Aug 21, p 14). This follows closely on the proposed Northern Range Valleys Connector Road extending from Diego Martin to Santa Cruz or St Joseph/Maracas. We have also heard of Swamp Road to Chaguanas and a Highway/Freeway to the airport to be built north of the Caroni River.

Having regard to the ad hoc nature of these grandiose revelations a developed nation aspirant must appreciate the obligation to subject the proposed National Highways Programme (NHP) to genuine and meaningful consultations with the several stakeholding communities. Civic society must be permitted to assess these projects in publicly conducted hearings and to make inputs into the locations, routes, designs and size of the highways and bridges etc prior to construction. That is the norm in developed societies and we cannot wait till 2020. Minister Khan is quoted as “stressing that government knew what it was doing in terms of planning a new road network (unilateralism) . . . (and) Trinidadians did not see intellectual work as work . . .” (they are dotish) (Newsday July 30, p 13).

For example the scaled-down Crh-Butler Highway Interchange Project is expected to commence by year-end and cost the same if not more than $150m. The travelling constituency has had no occasion to comment on or contribute to the designs or to suggest alternative designs. This project will unleash massive traffic congestion and chaos from which Cabinet members will be insulated. Government must learn to respect the road-using constituencies and to profit from their road sense and their local ground knowledge. That will be encouraging the qualitative approach to developed country status.

Minister Khan cannot ignore the daily disgrace that is the old SMR from Curepe Roundabout to the 100-year-old Single Lane Silver Bridge over the Caroni River. Traffic density along this route has increased more than tenfold demanding a new four-lane bridge and the dualing and straightening of the old SMR from Valsayn Teachers’ College to the Caroni River even if it leads to and from UNC constituencies. This route serves as an effective bypass for regular traffic to and from Chaguanas and “Round de Road.” Diego Martin again, from where the road planners originate, must not dominate the resources of the Treasury after benefiting from the most expensive Audrey Jeffers Highway ever built worldwide. The Silver Bridge is an anachronism to be replaced in the interest of fair play and balanced development of all TT. When will the Curepe Overpass be built to avert the Ramgoolie Housing traffic build up?

STEPHEN KANGAL
Caroni