Mayor: Wrecking to return to Port of Spain by year-end

Traffic congestion caused by illegal parking will persist in Port of Spain, as no date has been set for wrecking to resume.

The problem will be exacerbated by the start of the new school year on September 5.

Amidst the covid19 lockdowns, wrecking in Port of Spain was halted.

Mayor Joel Martinez had planned to resume wrecking on June 21. Asked why it has not yet restarted, he said, "We are still awaiting advice from the Ministry of Local Government – advice based on the process, how we are going to go about wrecking, what steps we will take when we resume.

"We have had discussions with the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT), Traffic Management Division, Ministry of National Security (and the) Commissioner of Police. "

Martinez remained hopeful that it will resume before year-end and insisted, "We will come to a better position on it in short notice.

"Many people are concerned about the lack of wrecking. I get requests every day about indiscriminate parking throughout the city. There have been requests from ministries, about blocked passageways."

Parking on corners and blocking fire hydrants also cause problems.

In the past Martinez had proposed parking meters as an alternative or complement to wrecking.

"Parking meters were supposed to be a pilot project a couple years ago."

Like other initiatives, it failed to get off the ground because of covid.

Martinez said,"We still await the MoWT to tell us if we are going to go ahead and put parking meters in the city, but it is not in my purview."

He said there had also been groups opposed to resuming wrecking, but could not name any specifically.