Sinanan: We constantly repair landslips

MINISTER of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan publicly extended his condolences over the tragic deaths of Doodooman Sankar, 79, and his wife Ramdaye Sankar, 84, in a fire on Sunday at St Julien's Road, Princes Town.

Speaking in the Senate on Tuesday, Sinanan said he had recently lost his parents and had arrived late in the Senate coming from the funeral of Pundit Tara Maharaj of Coryal.

He was replying to an urgent question by Opposition Senator Wade Mark over claims that poor conditions of the local road had impeded firemen from reaching the couple earlier.

Sinanan said, "This is one of our historic (historical) roads which evolved with time and used to be a track and is located on the ridge without any major changes to its structure.

"It was not designed to carry any heavy axle loading and as such was not designed for the use of heavy trucks and ten-wheeler vehicles."

He said the history of the road showed that the soil in the terrain was prone to landslips and failures.

"Over the years the ministry has constantly conducted repairs to the roadway as a result of these challenges and has done over 40 landslips in an effort to keep this road passable. The ministry continues to be challenged by the soil movement and instability and to date there are 16 landslips."

He said two are being addressed, but Senate President Christine Kangaloo said his time to reply was up.

Mark asked what efforts were made to do repairs.

Sinanan replied, "It is noteworthy that there are two alternate routes to St Julien's Village which are maintained by the Ministry of Works and Transport. These alternative routes are in good condition and the travelling time to the community is the same.

“The ministry wishes to encourage persons to utilise these routes while we undertake to carry out repairs to the roads in the community and throughout TT."