No progress on traffic, but Port of Spain mayor working on Xmas shopping plan

PORT of Spain Mayor Joel Martinez hopes the city will come alive for this Christmas season after business slumped during the covid19 pandemic.

He said the city corporation is working out the logistics to ensure a safe, comfortable and profitable Christmas shopping experience in the capital.There are plans to host a Christmas market for registered vendors after decorating Independence Square.

A traffic-congestion strategy is being considered and discussions are ongoing to discourage criminal activity by increasing police presence.

In a short sit-down interview at City Hall, Knox Street, on Monday afternoon, Martinez told Newsday the past two years have been difficult for business and shoppers in the city.

He knows many are anticipating the returns from the upcoming season, so, he says, he is trying to bring back to a sense of normality as quickly as possible.

“One of the main things that people want to be able to feel safe in the city during Christmas time, because if you want people to come back out, they have to feel that sense of security.

"So we have engaged our municipal police and our TTPS, and we are working together with ACP Roger Alexander to be able to bring down the level of crime to a...minimum and also to ensure that people feel that sense of safety so that they can go about themselves and see about their business and enjoy the city streets.”

The corporation is also focus on flooding and illegal vending. In the coming days, underground and pavement drains will be regularly cleaned to prevent flooding in and around the city.

Martinez said traffic remains a major concern.

“ I saw a video the other day where a driver said he took almost an hour to get (through) .3 kilometres of road on Park Street. That should never happen. And along the road there were traffic wardens, and they weren't doing their job.”

In September, Martinez said he hoped wrecking would return to Port of Spain by year-end after being suspended during the covid19 pandemic. He said the corporation had encountered some issues with the wrecking services.

Months later, he still can't say when wrecking will resume.

“We currently don't have a wrecker wrecking at this time. But we're working on that. But in the meantime...park responsibly so that you wouldn't have the type of congestion that we're having.

"I would like to ask our police officers to be vigilant about those things. And really and truly I would like to see the fact that if we can't park better, and we have what you call indiscriminate par,king that we develop the wrecking system again to be able to manage the circumstances.”