Martinez urges Port of Spain city corporation administration to address flooding

PORT OF SPAIN mayor Joel Martinez is calling on the city corporation to urgently address flooding in the Abattoir Road area.

Commuters travelling into and out of the capital last week were greatly inconvenienced by floods which led to major traffic.

Newsday visited Abattoir Road on Sunday and observed a blocked drain towards the back of the Port of Spain Market where water was standing still instead of draining away due to debris.

The channel ran from Abattoir Road on the east side of the market, under the market, and exited on Abattoir Road on the west side of the market, draining into the St Ann’s River.

There were some signs that work had begun on cleaning the drains, and a cleaner at the market said a crane had begun cleaning the drains that led under the carpark, which had been flooded on Friday.

Vendors said there were less customers on Friday as many did not want to brave the floodwaters, and one vendor said his vehicle was soaked through trying to get into the market.

Martinez said on Sunday that he had spoken to the corporation CEO on Friday.

“She said the city engineer reported that the pump belonging to the Ministry of Works ran out of fuel, and according to him, the pumps were refueled and the water was subsiding.

"When I got there I couldn’t tell if it wasn’t subsiding or not, but there was a substantial amount of water still, too much to be comfortable, and they couldn’t ascertain, and these were his words, they couldn’t ascertain whether the drain was clogged, and they needed the water to subside to determine whether the drain was clogged or not.”

Martinez said he could not believe this was the position being taken.

“I said to the CEO, so if the water never subsides, they will never check the drain? You are engineers, you understand the city, you are responsible to ensure flooding is not taking place, and if it happens you cannot ascertain that it’s this or that.

"The Works Ministry’s engineers have already determined that it is the clogged drain and that the pumps were working, it was only one time that it ran out of fuel as it was on for a number of days.

"I had a conversation with the Works Minister and I am more inclined to believe that the drain is clogged and our city corporation is responsible and need to get to it immediately.”

Both the corporation CEO and the city engineer declined to comment on the matter.