Park-of-Pain

As the search for parking spots in Port-of-Spain is close to becoming a nightmare for the working public, business people as well as shoppers, Police Traffic Branch is having a field day in its “clean up campaign” to rid the streets of motorists who transgress the law. Police Traffic Branch revealed that the number of vehicles wrecked on a daily basis in downtown Port-of-Spain is 70, more than double the amount in recent years. With the recent closure of two major car parks which held a combined capacity of 626 cars, the public is left with reduced choices of finding secure parking in the capital city. In October, NIPDEC closed its Richmond Street car park, located behind Furness Court which catered for 446 car spaces. The land, which was leased by UDECOTT (Urban Develop-ment Company of Trinidad and Tobago), will now encompass part of Campus Plaza earmarked for completion by 2006.

Earlier this year, another car park leased to NIPDEC, located behind the Unit Trust Corporation on Richmond Street was also closed. And, Sunday Newsday was told that the Cruise Ship Complex car park which now accommodates 140 vehicles may be closed by the year’s end as the property is being acquired by UDECOTT for the construction of an international conference centre. UDECOTT has begun construction on a multi-storey car park which will hold 1,626 car spaces at Campus Plaza. While this will alleviate some of the parking problems in Port-of-Spain, and in effect, traffic woes along the main streets, efforts for immediate relief are still in waiting.

Although the Ministry of Works and Transport and the Port-of-Spain City Corporation were unable to provide information on the total number of car parks in the Port-of-Spain area that catered to the public, Sunday Newsday learned that NIPDEC currently operates five car parks which carry a total of over 1,050 car spaces. These include car parks at Riverside Plaza which holds 400-plus cars; Edward Street, 405 cars; 47 St Vincent Street (opposite First Citizens Bank) 32 cars; Inland Revenue behind the Industrial Court, approximately 132 cars; and Cadiz Road, 82 cars, which caters for Citi Bank staff and Apsara Restaurant customers.

Sources revealed that parking at Riverside Plaza is always available. But because of the perceived stigma of criminal elements in the area, car owners expressed fear of using the facility. However, an official at NIPDEC said that there has never been any incidents at the car park. Riverside Plaza car park also operates a shuttle service from 6.30 am to 9 am and 3-6 pm to Central Bank. Parking costs in and around Port-of-Spain average $5 per hour. At a breakfast meeting hosted by the British Caribbean Chamber of Commerce, Minister of Works and Transport, Franklin Khan said that the number of registered vehicles on the roadways totalled 450,000 and that the ratio of persons per vehicle was 2.9:1.

This, he said, was as a result of the advent of the foreign-used car industry and the accessibility and affordability of vehicles. Khan said he anticipated that the in-flow of traffic into Port-of-Spain will be much larger due to the expansion of various roads. He said, however, that his government was making attempts to remedy this situation by 2005. Police traffic branch has revealed alarming figures of the number of vehicles wrecked since the start of its campaign on October 18, 2004. (Islandwide, some 1,500 vehicles have been wrecked with an average of 400 drivers charged on the highways each weekend.) However, in one week alone, from November 29 and December 5, some 319 vehicles were wrecked in downtown Port-of-Spain.

According to Acting Commissioner of Police in charge of mobile Nazamul Hosein, the causes are mainly due to the lack of parking facilities in the capital city and the “lawlessness” of Trinidadians. “People tend to take chances. Trinidadians trivialise everything and show flagrant disregard for the law. We want to leave home late for work and look for a place to park and when we don’t get the spot, we park close to the corner. No vehicle should park within nine metres from a corner. People just lawless,” ACP Hosein told Sunday Newsday. He said that their area of main focus is bounded by Oxford Street to the north, South Quay to the south, Charlotte Street to the east, and Richmond Street to the west. “When vehicles park illegally on both sides of the road this narrows the roadway to one lane and causes congestion and gridlock in the city. It also causes a lot of inconvenience to commuters and shoppers and everybody,” he added.

He said that once a car is illegally parked “and we cannot find you,” the car is wrecked and impounded at Traffic Branch, Sealots. A $100 fee is required to retrieve the impounded vehicle. If issued a ticket for illegal parking, the fine is $200. “We cannot go and look a half mile away for the driver, but in the immediate vicinity,” ACP Hosein said. “We have to clean up Port-of-Spain of this lawlessness. It is taking people too long to get to their jobs and it will ease the frustration and pain of commuters who want to get to work. Office hours are being lost. “We are appealing to persons with goods vehicles. The law says that while in the process of loading or unloading you would not be issued any ticket. But you cannot park up for any time frame waiting to offload, because it creates the same problem of congestion.” He said that although four wreckers are currently employed, a total of eight is needed to effectively control the traffic congestion in Port-of-Spain. “We can do more but because of the traffic, the wreckers can’t move as they want.”