Lady Young Road to open Monday

JENSEN LA VENDE

After visiting Lady Young Road yesterday, two days after a landslip nearly took the life of former People’s National Movement MP Joanne Thomas, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said the roadway is expected to be opened tomorrow.

Speaking with the media following a site visit, Sinanan said ministry technocrats will walk along Lady Young Road with Ministry of Agriculture officials and identify any other weak areas and address them before they get worse.

Sinanan added that the same exercise will be done along Saddle Road and North Coast Road where land slippage earlier this year cut off Maracas and environs for days from vehicular traffic.

Sinanan said the cost of the Lady Young Road project is yet to be determined but added that the cost will be significantly less than it could have been without the bonded rates system currently being used. He added that the crew will work 24/7 to remove the rubble and clear the ridge to prevent further slippage as advised by Dr Derek Gay, a geo-technical engineer.

Gay said at first he thought that the loosened dirt and rock was all that needed to be cleared but after that was done he noticed a ridge of loosened rocks higher and recommended that it be removed before it collapses.

He said the inclement weather from last year loosened the rocks as well as high winds which shook the trees. The shaking trees embedded in loosened rocks and dirt resulted in the land slippage, Gay said.

Responding to questions about Cedros, Sinanan said it must be highlighted that it was coastal erosion that caused the land slip in south Trinidad community. He added that based on advice it will be better to relocate those affected and create a new access road for those who did not lose their homes but have been cut off from vehicular traffic.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said all residents on the seaward side of Bamboo Village Extension, Cedros, near the site of a major coastal landslip, are in danger and will have to be evacuated.

Rowley said Government was taking steps to relocate them to vacant lots close by. He said in the interim, those who lost their homes in last Monday’s landslide will be relocated to the Lake View Housing Development in Point Fortin.