Works Ministry sees about highways

Ms Sankar complained bitterly about the quality of road patching being done in Chaguanas and she blamed the Ministry of Works and Transport for the poor quality of the patching work. She did not, however identify the roads in question.

It is a common misconception that the Ministry of Works and Transport is responsible for all roads in the country and that all road repair work that is taking place at any given time is being done by the Ministry. The Ministry of Works and Transport however, is responsible only for main roads and highways and not for secondary roads. Indeed, secondary roads are the direct responsibility of the various Local Government Corporations, which in this case appears to be the Chaguanas Borough Corporation, or a neighbouring Local Government Corporation.

The network of secondary roads in the country is substantial and people often become confused in trying to determine exactly which agency is responsible for which road. This misconception is encouraged by some of the operators within the Local Government System who often seek to avoid responsibility for the roads under their control. Before rushing to judgement, therefore, Ms Sankar would be well advised to get better information on exactly who is responsible for the road repair work in question, since it is quite likely that the work on the roads that she has complained about has nothing to do with the Ministry of Works and Transport.