No advancement over last 77 years

THE EDITOR: I am uncertain of the year, but I do recall it was either the late 1990s or early 2000s.

An engineer by the name of Nevile Walcott was brought from Canada to do a survey of the roads of Trinidad. He took core samples of all the roads and showed them to the then minister of transport and made his recommendations.

When his work was done he was invited to spend a weekend in Toco. Along the way he saw repairs being done to the road and asked the driver to return him to his hotel and from there he went to Piarco and boarded a plane back to Canada.

His report showed that only two roads stood the test of time. The North Coast Road to Maracas and the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway. Those two roads, built in the 1940s by the Americans, are still strong today. The other roads were all built on weak foundations.

Today, some 20 or so years later, the truth has been revealed.

The road in Gran Couva, the road in Brazil and the Manzanilla stretch are glaring examples. They consist of about four-six inches of asphalt laid on a bed of sand or some other loose soil. Many other roads were simply built on old cart tracks.

Today we have vehicles weighing 20, 30 and more tonnes on these roads.

I do not know about anyone else, but, looking back over the last 77 years, all I see is regression and no advancement in either infrastructure, education, tourism, agriculture or commerce.

RICHARD DEANE

Diego Martin