Mayor: Put rails back on the highway

SIPARIA Mayor Doodnath Mayrhoo has called upon Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan to put protective rails back on a section of the Solomon Hochoy Highway where a vehicular accident happened on August 4.

Mayrhoo made this call when he spoke at the funeral service of Ryan Ramnanan at Tulsa Trace, San Francique, on August 8.

Ramnanan, 29 and his friend Sachen Teeluckdharry, 27, were found dead in Teeluckdharry's overturned Nissan Navara in the Cipero River under the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway.

Their families had reported them missing after they did not return home from liming on August 3.

Mayrhoo said no one could imagine the trauma that Ramnanan and Teeluckdharry's families were experiencing at this time.

"Two families in the southern part of Trinidad are in mourning."

Mayrhoo said Ramnanan and Teeluckdharry's relatives have called for protective rails to be placed along the Solomon Hochoy Highway in the place where the accident happened.

"Today, my call is to Minister Rohan Sinanan. Had those rails been there, their injuries would not have been as severe as it is. They may not have died."

Mayrhoo was not interested in anyone saying that rails do not save lives.

"Whether the rails protect or not, it is the responsibility to make sure that it is there to give some cushion, some safety for drivers."

Mayrhoo said it was government's responsibility to ensure there are safety measures along the highways to protect the lives of motorists.

In response to a question in the House of Representatives on May 24, Minister in the Ministry of Works and Transport Richie Sookhai said the ministry is undertaking a phased removal of cable barriers along highways.

The ministry has developed and is currently implementing its median barrier programme to be executed over a three-year period to remove all cable barriers and replace them with guard rails."

He said phase one of the programme consists of three packages

Package one entails installing guard rails on the Uriah Butler Highway in Caroni.

Sookhai said they will be 5.2 km long and the work will be completed in September.

Package two will see 8.34 km of guard rails installed along the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Caroni. This work is also expected to be completed in September.

The third package involves 12.62 km of guard rails along the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Victoria West, expected to be finished in October.

Sookhai said after the ministry evaluated the ability of cable barriers to withstand impacts, it was discovered that "it would be a lot more efficient to be able to implement the guard rails, as it will ensure the maintenance of safety for road connectivity and road users...at all times."