Morvant’s wrath for water, work

They set fire to tyres and pieces of logs which they used to block the Eastern Main Road leading into the capital near Angostura; on the Lady Young Road near Massy Motors; and near the office of their Member of Parliament, Adrian Leonce.

“We are people too! Why we can’t be treated as other citizens from other communities who have access to basic utilities? We need work! Look how long we have no water in the village,” a resident shouted. There were reports that when police arrived on the scene to maintain law and order, they were greeted by gunshots.

The fires were set as early as five in the morning at the main entrance to Lady Young Road from the Eastern Main Road. A resident, who gave his name as Nyron, said the residents had had enough and warned government not to assume that come the next general election, “Morvant will automatically be ‘red and ready’,” alluding to the PNM’s campaign slogan in the 2015 election.

The protest caused a massive pile-up of traffic on the Eastern Main Road for several hours leading the Works and Transport Ministry to open the Priority Bus Route (PBR) to regular traffic from the Abattoir to Morvant Junction near Toyota, to ease congestion.

THIS IS JUST THE START In an interview on Radio i95.5FM, Morvant community activist Garth Christopher warned that the protest action was “only the beginning” as for too long, residents have been ignored.

He said the water woes and lack of employment opportunities were only part of the myriad of problems facing Morvant.

“We are the only community in our country that have been neglected consistently. This is the big picture. Specifically, we have water problems, we have drainage problems, we have unemployment problems, we have infrastructure and underdevelopment...

The government is spending money all over the place, saying they don’t have, but yet still they spending money all over the place.

“It is time the government start taking we the people of Morvant, Laventille and Laventille East and the East/West Corridor seriously.” On the same radio station, MP Leonce said he was “currently working” with government to address the concerns and bring relief to residents.

“Some of the young guys are upset that they can’t get jobs.

Over the weekend we had a walk with the Minister of Works and there are going to be some opportunities with employment. If we bring in some small projects, the small contractors in the area can get some work, rather than the large projects where a few people can be employed,” Leonce said.

A TT Police Service release stated officers from the North Eastern Division Task Force; PoS Division, Guard and Emergency Branch, Inter-Agency Task Force and Traffic Branch responded to reports of the protest at 5 am.

Debris was strewn across Lady Young Road, Lady Young Avenue, Coconut Drive, Seventh Avenue, Malick and Second Caledonia, the police said. Police were able to quell the protest, allowing the Fire Services and personnel from the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation to clear the roadways. Ag Snr Supt Surendra Sagramsingh of North Eastern Division denied earlier reports of shots fired when police arrived.
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