Palo Seco residents continue protests over roads, prices

RESIDENTS of Palo Seco continued their protests over poor infrastructure and other matters on Wednesday.

Over the last two days, there were similar protests in Palo Seco and some nearby communities in southwest Trinidad.

When Newsday visited the Palo Seco Main Road area, workers from the Siparia Regional Corporation were clearing the roads of debris with police looking on.

The debris included branches cut from nearby trees and used to block the road. When the branches were cut, some of them fell on nearby electricity wires, knocking them to the ground. The same thing had happened on Tuesday

TT Electricity Commission (T&TEC) workers were putting the lines back up and restoring power.

One resident, Trevor Toorie, said residents remain concerned about the deteriorating state of roads in the area.

"The quality (of the roads) is bad and getting worse."

Toorie, 65, expressed concern about what this meant for the ability of children to go to school and elderly people to access medical care if they become ill. He was also concerned about a lack of employment opportunities for young people in the area.

On Monday night, residents from Palo Seco, Los Bajos, Quarry Village in Siparia, and parts of Fyzabad began blocking roads with tyres and other debris. The police were alerted and later cleared the roads.

Residents continued their protests before dawn on Tuesday, blocking several roads with burning debris before dawn.

They said they need their roads fixed and accused the authorities of neglect. They also complained about increases in fuel prices and the overall cost of living.

One resident from Palo Seco on Tuesday said, "This protest has nothing to do with politics. The road is terrible and food prices are too high. It is very hard for the poor man to survive. Something has to be done."

On Tuesday, Heritage Petroleum issued an advisory to workers based at its Palo Seco office about the protests in Palo Seco and surrounding areas. The latter included the Siparia Old Road where it connects to Fyzabad and the SS Erin Road near the Palo Seco Velodrome.

The company told its Santa Flora workers to expect significant traffic disruptions in the areas where the protests were happening. These workers were also advised to "use alternative routes if it is safe to do so."