Death threats over La Brea roadworks

The $10 million project, which is overseen by the ministry’s Programme for Upgrading Road Efficiency (PURE) unit, is already 60 percent complete and, before this latest roadblock, had been scheduled to be completed by the end of this month — well ahead of the projected November 11 deadline.

PURE officials, however, told Newsday that after these latest threats of “bloodshed,” if the site is not provided with proper security from the Police Service by today, they would have no choice but to abandon work, regardless of the state of completion.

The newest impediment comes one week after protesters from the area and La Brea Member of Parliament Nicole Olivierre exchanged sharp words about the status of the road upgrades.

The majority of workers — 61 people — are from La Brea and have been hired through local subcontractors sourced through the Office of the Member of Parliament, PURE sources told Newsday, while main contractor Jusamco Pavers Ltd had initially hired 18 workers.

Jusamco subsequently fired about eight workers earlier this week because they “just came in to sign the register and then disappeared for the rest of the day,” Newsday was told.

Workers were unwilling to say definitively who made the threats.

“These people just making it hard for everybody else,” one disgruntled bricklayer grumbled.

“I would say about 90 percent of the workers hired for this project are from the community. First it was the people protesting because they couldn’t sell their produce on the side of the road; now our workers are being threatened on site. These people want a road but they’re harassing us when we’re working,” one of the senior PURE officials overseeing works said. Olivierre called the disruptions “unnecessary, unfortunate and disturbing,” leading to delays and prolonged inconvenience for residents and business owners.

“I therefore plead with those persons to cease and desist and allow the Government to complete its infrastructure programme to improve the living conditions of the people in La Brea,” she said in a statement to Newsday.

She added that the Works and Transport Ministry would be responsible for liaising with the TTPS to work out a patrol plan.

Newsday made several attempts to contact Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, but calls to his mobile phone went unanswered. Attempts to contact a spokesman from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service were also unsuccessful