Naparima / Mayaro residents: Fix our road

“It was very surprising,” said Jamayat Hosein, a 69-year-old Rio Claro resident. “In the last election, they did not even try to fool us with a road.” Hosein, a retired Ministry of Finance valuation officer, said usually when elections come around, residents could expect to see roads being paved and repaired.

This was not so in the last election, however, and now the road is in a truly terrible state. “I have been living in Rio Claro for 23 years. I have never left the area since and I have never seen this Mayaro Road so bad.” Hosein recalled the first unfulfilled plan for a San Fernando to Mayaro Highway was born in 1978. Since then, numerous plans for a highway have been contrived, the last of which was put forward by former Finance Minister, Winston Dookeran.

None has come to fruition.

Still, Hosein said, “I am not even asking for a highway, but at least flatter us with something good.” Shamma Maharaj, 57, a Navet resident and retired farmer, however, says the road has not been completely resurfaced in 35 years.

“The last time they resurfaced this road was in 1981,” said Maharaj.

She added that over the last 35 years, the road has been in a constant state of disrepair due to the absence of sufficient retaining walls, minimal and infrequent paving, and the patching of roads instead of a complete re-sheeting.

Maharaj said they have been told by the relevant authorities that there was no money to perform a complete re-sheeting. Authorities opted instead to patch the roads in the most damaged areas, but this doesn’t fix the overall problems. “When it finally gets to a contractor, you see a few trucks come in the area and throw asphalt on the roads. Then they press it a little bit and that’s it.

Nothing major. So the road keeps being damaged,” said Maharaj, because of the movement of heavy vehicles and equipment from Guayaguayare and insufficient retaining walls.

The lack of response from authorities has led frustrated residents to start an online petition on Change.org with the hopes of garnering public support.

The petition, started on September 7, has since garnered 86 signatures.

The petition argues that the road’s disrepair negatively affects business and the tourism industry as Mayaro is home to a number of vacation resorts and the largest water park in the country, Harry’s Water Park.

Farmers in the area also suffer increased production costs from repairs done to constantly damaged vehicles and time lost when the vehicles are down.