Severe blockage in Trinidad and Tobago's road arteries

THE EDITOR: What happens when a person discovers their arteries are blocked with plaque? They take life-saving medicine or undergo surgery.

Just as a person has arteries, etc, to carry vital nutrients to all parts of their body, so too a country needs proper and clear highways and road networks to transport vital goods and services to its citizens.

For donkeys' years, our road arteries have been blocked with the plaque of potholes.

Travelling along any of our nation's roads is a nightmare and when you do so at certain hours in the morning and evening, you are guaranteed to lose valuable hours of your time sitting in traffic.

How does the authorities expect its citizens to travel, to shop, go to work or school, how do they expect fire, ambulances, police, etc, to get to where they are needed in the shortest possible time?

Government officials close their eyes and their conscience (if they have any) to the cries of the citizens.

These roads did not get to their conditions overnight. Such deterioration would have taken months and in some cases several years. And when fed-up citizens protest, they are deemed unpatriotic.

What good are elected officials when you only see or hear from them once every five years?

Travelling through the nation's capital takes skill and dexterity to evade the many potholes. I am certain if China knew just how bad the roads are in Port of Spain, they may have thought twice about allowing their city of Shanghai to be twinned with our very own "pothole city."

Our elected representatives need to wake up if they truly love this country and not simply their position. Our nation's road network is in dire need of repair.

CLERMONT ANDREWS

Via e-mail