Life without Cepep

THE EDITOR: I’m appalled at the sight of our unkept surroundings. It’s one thing for the esteemed prime minister to deprecate the skills set of Cepep workers as merely “cutting grass,” but many are now seeing the value of this service.

For example, the 5th Street area in Barataria has bushes at the side of the road which are growing into trees and, by month end, you can play Tarzan.

There is garbage on the highway as though the La Basse was extended – bags of cut grass, old tyres, household debris are just scattered about and are being smeared with the carcasses of animals being hit by vehicles.

If you go to Chaguanas, the grass is turning into forests, even though certain corporations boasting now about how well they are doing. The Brian Lara Promenade looks horrible. There is not a single walk path which can be accessed.

It’s really shameful when politics backfires. Further, I really wish something be done about the area around the failed Beetham wastewater treatment plant. The road there is bad and a dust bowl.

I don’t know how the officers in the marked police car parked there for hours on mornings cope with that level of dust. This is something MP Kareem Marcelle should adopt as a pet project. It is clear regional corporations can’t do it alone. Madam PM and Minister Padarath, there is no shame in reactivating Cepep. I assure you, neither PNM nor UNC matters here. We are approaching environmental apocalypse!

The last thing I would want is for you to be compared to Rohan Sinanan and his track record of maintaining the nation’s roads and highways. At least he ensured the grass was cut and garbage collected.

LINDA CAPILDEO

St James