PoS mayor wants clean city after pandemic

PORT OF SPAIN Mayor Joel Martinez is hoping that the clean city streets will remain after the covid19 pandemic, saying the corporation has spent too much money cleaning up after people.

On Saturday, Martinez said sanitising the streets showed how clean it used to be and the clean fresh scent of the capital is a welcoming one.

He hoped the $150,000 spent to wash the streets and the Central Mark in the past two weeks will not be a wasted effort.

“We want to maintain a clean city. We need people to stop littering and discourage old habits. We must take responsibility as citizens whether corporate or private. Start caring for your country. We have to stop the nastiness.”

Martinez after the city corporation and fire officials, accompanied by members of the Defence Force, sanitised the Centre for Socially Displaced Persons at Riverside Plaza. He said the area will be sanitised daily as the corporation and the Ministry of Social Development look at creating a space to house the socially displaced. A parcel of land south of the plaza has been earmarked for a temporary area for the homeless.

“We are looking at the piece of land to the front of Riverside to house them. We are thinking of putting some tents with about 150 cots maybe get a large piece of carpet or something to lay down on the grass and install portable bathrooms and wash rooms.”

Martinez said part of the city sanitization included the purchase of $1.2 million worth of personal protective equipment for city workers. An additional $30,000 was spent on repairing two water trucks so the city will not have to contract private companies to clean and sanitise the capital.