Protest leaves commuters stranded...again

RESIDENTS of Point Fortin yesterday threatened to "burn the road" as, for the second day, taxi drivers parked at the taxi stand and refused to transport commuters, as a protest over the state of the roads and the rising cost of fuel.

Commuters were again left stranded as about 40 taxi drivers formed a convoy and drove from Point Fortin to Oropouche and back at 30 kmph, causing a traffic jam, yesterday morning.

President of the Point Fortin Taxi Drivers Association John David said they were merely driving at a slower speed to avoid going into potholes and other depressions caused mainly by the Water and Sewage Authority’s failure to fix or properly repair road surfaces after mending leaking water lines.

Only last week Works Minister Rohan Sinanan told Newsday how challenged his ministry was by WASA’s lack of urgency in restoring roads after doing repairs, and also with the quality of the authority’s work. Sinanan said a memorandum of understanding between his ministry and WASA was not working out the way it was intended, and a system was being devised to save money and inconvenience to the travelling public.

David said every hour the drivers refuse to work, they are losing money, but it is a sacrifice they are willing to make until they have the assurance the roads will be fixed, and they are getting the support of residents, “who want to burn road, they want to light fire on the road. But we are hoping to avoid that kind of drama.”

He said the road between Point Fortin to Oropouche and Point Fortin to Cap-de-Ville was horrible.

“Because of the state of the roads we have to fork out between $1,800 to $2,000 every month to maintain our vehicles. We also take a longer time to get to our destination. What would have taken us one hour now takes two hours, and the increase in the price of super fuel by $1 (a litre) has also increased our monthly expense.

“We don’t want to protest, we don’t want to burn road, we don’t want to raise our fares, because people in this area losing their jobs daily, but we need some attention. If the roads are repaired, that would eliminate half of our problems.”

David said this is not an overnight problem He said the association spoke to MP Edmund Dillon several times in the past, but his response was that the government did not have money to do repairs.

“This time we did not speak to him or the mayor (Abdon Mason) or councillors, because we know they cannot do anything for us. We want the Works Minister to guarantee us that the road will be repaired. We want to know when the highway to Point Fortin will be complete. They reach Oropouche and stop.”

The drivers were preparing yesterday to write to the Prime Minister and Sinanan outlining their woes. The association was also scheduled to meet last night to decide its next move.

Newsday sent messages to both Dillon and Sinanan, who were in the budget debate in the Parliament, but received no response.