MPs for flood-hit areas invite Sinanan to visit

WORKS and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan has been invited by several UNC MPs to visit their constituencies in order to see firsthand the problems of flooding, landslips and/or bad roads plaguing residents.

The invite came during a near five-hour grilling of the minister on Monday during the House of Representatives' Standing Finance Committee meeting on the budget.

With UNC MPs challenging whether enough new water pumps and floodgates have been provided to protect their constituencies, Sinanan successively got invitations to visit from Oropouche West MP Davendranath Tancoo, Barataria/San Juan MP Saddam Hosein and St Augustine MP Khadijah Ameen.

The sitting was characterised by Sinanan's often telling MPs they were raising issues under incorrect sub-item headings. But they persisted.

Sinanan promised Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh to "send a team today," to deal with his pothole concerns, to which Indarsingh replied that teams had already visited, but to no avail.

Sinanan promised, "It will be dealt with expeditiously."

Ameen lamented poor communication by ministry staff with MPs, such that repair workers often visited the wrong areas, causing more delays. She said she has seen many culverts cleared along highways, but without channels being clear, rainwater run-off had nowhere to go. One such area, she said, was the Blue Waters plant at Trincity.

Tancoo lamented deaths on the Solomon Hochoy Highway, prompting Sinanan to say he would install rumble strips at dark and high-risk spots.

Chaguanas West Dinesh Rambally pleaded for traffic lights at Bejucal Road, under an incorrect budget line item. Sinanan conceded that the road had changed from an agricultural road to conveying many trucks.

Hosein called for more gully-sucker machines, to which Sinanan replied that El Socorro Road was on the list to be cleared.

Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George often had to rein in debate as she called on MPs to stick to line items.Moruga/Tableland MP Michelle Benjamin called for more traffic wardens to help traffic flow in her area. Sinanan admitted to 221 vacant positions, promising recruitment soon.

Tancoo noted a budget allocation of $100,000 for 221 wardens, adding, "The maths not 'mathsing.'" Sinanan replied that hiring is a gradual process. He also explained there was a high turnover among traffic wardens, as many saw this as a mere stepping-stone to other jobs. He hoped to boost the existing 650 complement by 100 more in the new fiscal year.

Sinanan said the ministry's focus had been on a major programme to desilt rivers. He said the Diego Martin, Maraval and St Ann's Rivers were intended to have been paved, but this had to be delayed until the dry season in January, so desilting was done instead.

"We put the money into clearing the watercourses, for a quick run-off."

With the allocation for landslip repair growing from $6.7 million to $12 million in 2021 and 2022, to $80 million for 2023, Sinanan boasted of having maintained connectivity between affected areas.

He said it was very expensive to fix landslips, and asked MPs to imagine having to fix 300 landslips for $10 million each. He hoped to look at natural techniques for landslip prevention.