Kublalsingh blocks bulldozer

Activist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh on Thursday said he recently had to stand in front of a bulldozer and tractor which tried to work on the Debe to Mon Desir section of the Point Fortin Highway.

Honked by passing drivers outside the Office of the Prime Minister at Whitehall, Port of Spain, Kublalsingh and Highway Reroute Movement (HRM) members Jason Ash and Sureash Chaitoo spoke with reporters.

Kublalsingh used a bullhorn lent to him by PSA leader Watson Duke to tell the Prime Minister of his angst over the highway stretch. Showing reporters a photo and a media statement, Kublalsingh said in March 2017 he had met Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan who had declared the Mon Desir segment was then not a priority due to financial constraints.

He alleged that by January 2019, the minister had issued tenders, chosen contractors and started work on the segment of the highway, but had not acted on calls to meet the HRM. He also accused the government of having used the HRM as a “fig leaf” in arbitration talks to snatch back $1 billion from the defunct contractors, OAS Construtora, and then ditching the lobby group.

Kublalsingh lamented that this train of events had all happened despite his group having initiated legal action against the Mon Desir roadworks.

He alleged the state lawyers had delayed so much that the application for leave had not been heard, leading to the movement asking the judge to recuse herself, which she did, but with the judiciary then failing to name a new judge.

“Last Friday the HRM members, unprotected by the court and betrayed by the minister, had to stand in front of tractors and backhoe which had entered the Mon Desir area to prevent them from doing work.”

Kublalsingh said the crux of the issue was that the highway stretch passes through 13 communities and affects hundreds of people.

“It affects the hydrology of the Oropouche Lagoon. There are a lot of ecological, social and economic issues at stake. They have not done a proper analysis. That is the finding of the Armstrong Report of 2013.”

Kublalsingh asked whether a senior government official owned land in that area, and whether another official had in 2010 sought to unduly influence the tone of a certificate of environmental clearance (CEC.)

Otherwise, he hoped to meet Dr Rowley about the matter.

Newsday asked Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan if work was happening on the contentious segment of the highway without keeping Kublalsingh in the loop. Sinanan told Newsday, “He is quite correct. He did file a matter in court. He has a matter before the court. I will have no comment until the matter is finished.”