3 fined for throwing debris on highway

Three men who threw burning debris across the east-bound lane of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway on Saturday have each been fined $150 by an Arima magistrate.

The three – Joseph White, a 40-year-old labourer of North Building, Maloney Gardens; Vince Gibson, a 31-year-old newspaper dispatcher of Building 4 and Kuamie John, a 28-year-old cook of North Building – appeared before Magistrate Debby Ann Bassaw in the Third Magistrates Court on Monday, when they pleaded guilty to the obstruction of a roadway.

The three were arrested after a protest on Saturday when residents blocked the highway, burning old tyres, appliances and other debris. The protest created traffic gridlock along both east- and westbound lanes of the highway near the main entrance to the Maloney Housing Development. The Fire Services were called out to extinguish the burning debris and help clear the highway.

The trio was part of a group of 65 residents from the area seeking to highlight their dissatisfaction over a lack of pipeborne water.

They were charged by PCs Anil Bhim and Lawrence Seecharan, also of Arima CID ,during the protest while police from the Northern Division Task Force, under ACP McDonald Jacob and Snr Supt Michael Daniel, the Guard and Emergency Branch, Organised Crime and Intelligence Unit and Special Branch took control of the scene on Saturday.

The police, in a statement said they were intent on “prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law” people who obstruct and disrupt the free flow of traffic on the roads.