Not enough being done for Sando

Addressing a breakfast meeting hosted by the San Fernando Partnership World Energy Cities Partnership Secretariat at San Fernando City Hall yesterday, the minister said San Fernando was "anything but a second city (in TT)" and a complementary partner to Port-of-Spain, recognised as the hub of business in TT. "San Fernando should be seen as being at the core of the other facet of TT — the energy sector. It therefore deserves and is entitled to its own fair share of consideration when we think and plan urban development," she said.

Referring to the National Physical Development Plan’s objectives for San Fernando and a host of development initiatives in south Trinidad (such as the King’s Wharf Waterfront and Mass Transit Hub and the $850 million sporting complex in Tarouba), Robinson-Regis disclosed that Cabinet had authorised the Urban Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Udecott) to conduct a feasibility study to reclaim lands along the San Fernando foreshore from Mosquito Creek to the Guaracara River. Stating that such exercises have been successfully implemented in other major cities around the world, Robinson-Regis was confident that the proposed reclamation works will revitalise San Fernando and support the sustained expansion of TT’s vital petro-chemical industry.

The minister also indicated that in pursuing developmental objectives in San Fernando and environs in a sustainable manner, a proper balance must be struck between the judicious use of the nation’s energy reserves and preservation of the environment. To this end, Robinson-Regis said Government is insistent that activities in the onshore side of TT’s energy sector, "include a comprehensive abandonment, restoration and remediation." She noted that State oil company Petrotrin has remediated 60 chronically polluted sites in Trinidad.