Highways, roads open

WORKS and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan today said the country’s main highways and roads are operational after the flooding which affected several parts of the country over the last three days.

Sinanan made this comment when contacted in St Helena, where he was overseeing the ministry’s clean-up efforts. He said the reports he had received said none of the major highways or roads had suffered any major damage.

He also said the North Coast Road and the Lady Young Road are open to traffic.

The majority of the ministry’s relief efforts, he said, are being directed towards places such as Manzanilla, Mayaro, St Helena, Madras and Kelly Village, where a a large amount of water remains. Sinanan was optimistic that the water would recede as weather conditions improve. But he said the ministry remained vigilant for any new reports of flooding if there is more heavy rainfall.

A tweet from the Office of the Prime Minister said Sinanan accompanied the PM to Carenage to investigate reports of landslips in the area, in the Diego Martin West constituency. Dr Rowley is Diego Martin West MP.

A tweet from the Works and Transport Minister said Sinanan and ministry officials were in Bamboo Settlement Number 2, inspecting damage caused by flooding.

In another tweet, the ministry told citizens, “Once waters subside and the area has been declared electrically safe, start cleaning. Place items on your compound to be recorded for relief purposes.”

The ministry added that the respective regional corporations would continue to clean the roads, drains, bulk waste and slush, and are advising people whose houses were submerged in flood waters not to discard items destroyed by the floods.

“Keep your items until the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services have done their assessment,” the ministry said.

It also said Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) programme manager Indar Parasram was co-ordinating URP crews on clean-up exercises in Oropune, Greenvale and Sangre Grande.