‘Driving in Couva is like driving on an obstacle course’

COUVA South MP Rudy Indarsingh said driving on the roads in his constituency is like driving on an obstacle course. He said the roads are so bad that residents have taken it upon themselves to fill the massive potholes with rubble from demolished and renovated buildings because of the damage being done to their vehicles.

He said on the Southern Main Road, Mc Bean, “People are using bricks and other materials from demolished homes to fill the potholes because they are so large. If you drive from the UTT road down to Savonetta Junction, its like an obstacle course. You have to negotiate your path.”

Indarsingh said in the 28 years since he has been in Couva, it is the worse state he has seen the roads and called on Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan to ease the burden of his constituents.

He said if Sinanan who was in his constituency on Wednesday commissioning of the B 1/1 Camden Road Bridge, would have seen the state of the roads.

Indarsingh said he deliberately stayed away from the commissioning because the project was stopped for three years, causing his constituents to suffer unnecessary hardship, “out of pure malice, spite and vindictiveness.”

Sinanan questioned Indarsingh’s absence, when he commissioned the bridge formerly known Captain Watson Bridge. He said he was looking forward to hand over the bridge to Indarsingh who had been clamouring for its opening, in the parliament.

The bridge serves as a major link road between Couva Main Road and the Rivulet Road, and Sinanan said it will significantly improve the flow and movement of traffic and people in the Point Lisas Industrial area and environs.

Yesterday, Indarsingh said he deliberately missed the commissioning. “For three years this government suffered the people of my constituency, unnecessarily, and I could not be part of that charade.”

He explained when the People’s Partnership government demitted office in 2015, the bridge was about 40 per cent completed.

“That bridge should have been completed in about six months, but then Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds stopped the construction. He said there was corruption and he needed to do an audit.”

When Hinds was removed from that ministry, Indarsingh asked Sinanan to restart the project and also enquired about an audit in relation to the bridge.

“Sinanan, up to today, cannot say if any audit was done, but the contractor who was awarded the contract under the PP administration is the same contractor who continued and finished the project under the PNM administration.

“The point I am making is that Hinds stopped it out of pure spite and vindictiveness and malice. That is the PNM mantra, ‘audit and corruption, audit and corruption,’ but no proof to substantiate the claim.”

He said he was pleased to hear Sinanan say government would continue projects started under the PP government and gave examples of projects for consideration.

“If you want to talk about continuing projects, there are examples of projects that have been completed and government for their own reason is punishing the people of Couva and by extension TT. The UTT Aviation Campus, a multi-million dollar facility that is languishing and the Children’s Hospital.

“The Couva Hospital was fully equipped when we left office.

“We were in the process of recruiting staff. Open it or reopen it, it was not built exclusively for Couva,” Indarsingh said.