Wreck, but with a human face, Chag mayor tells TTPS

WRECKING is to resume shortly in Chaguanas, but Mayor Gopaul Boodhan is making one small request from the TT Police Service (TTPS) which will be providing the manpower for the service.

“Wreck with a human face.”

Boodhan said indiscriminate parking and breaches of other traffic regulations have caused the Chaguanas Borough Corporation and the TTPS to bring back the wrecker.

The service was scheduled to resume last Monday, but an administrative delay has caused its postponement, Boodhan said.

He said it may be reintroduced by the end of this week, or next week. He said the delay would give parents shopping for back to school items, “a bligh’.

“The administrative glitch is an opportune time for parents to take advantage and do their last-minute shopping. It would also give us time to notify all stakeholders of the plans, so no one can accuse us of coming like a big thief in the night.

“Everyone would be notified in the coming days and when this is done, and the service is reintroduced, whoever is in breach of the law would be penalised.”

Insisting that by parking on the pavement, indiscriminate drivers have put pedestrians at risk and have also damaged man hole covers in the process, Boodhan said this must be regulated.

However, he is seeking one consideration from the TTPS which will be managing the wrecking service when it is reimplemented.

“Wreck with a human face. I have been told this is not part of the law, but when the wrecker is reintroduced some consideration must be exercised.”

He said compassion must be shown to parents dropping off their children to school and children dropping off their elderly parents in front of a doctor’s office.

“You don’t come and wreck a driver as soon as he steps out of his vehicle and opens the door to take his elderly parents to the doctor’s office. We will not tolerate that. All proper protocols must be observed,” the mayor said.

Boodhan said the business chamber and all other stakeholders have met and have welcomed the reintroduction of the wrecking service, “Because the key problem is indiscipline among drivers.”

He said there are alternative places to park, but some drivers want to park at the same point where they are going to shop, for instance. He said there are alternative car parks at the market and on the main road, as well as paid parking facilities.

The wrecking service is a collaborative effort between the TTPS, which will provide the manpower, and the corporation which would provide the space for the storage of vehicles.