FFOS: More planning needed on highway extension

CORPORATE Secretary of environmental watchdog group Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) Gary Aboud yesterday knocked defenders of the proposed extension of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway saying, while his organisation is not necessarily against infrastructural development, he believes a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly option should be explored.

According to a release issued yesterday, Aboud responded to criminologist Prof Ramesh Deosaran who said the highway’s extension would prove beneficial to the fishing industry and questioned government’s motives behind the highway’s construction in light of the closure of several large companies.

He also said government should reassess its priorities by repairing and developing infrastructure instead of beginning new projects.

“How can the construction of a highway from Cumuto to Sangre Grande justify connectivity between TT if a feasibility study for the Toco port has never even been conducted? Or why a bankrupt and failing nation would buy a hundred million dollar vessel for a port that does not even exist and may never even be issued the required CEC approval?”

Aboud also called on citizens to do their part in observing the law and preventing the destruction of endangered species such as the Ocelot, citing the National Environmental Police and the Environmental Management Authority Act, he said greater consultation and planning should have been conducted before projects of this magnitude began.