$1.2 B ROAD LOAN BUT POTHOLES GALORE

THE Government received a loan of $1.2 billion in March 2019 to repair public roads. 

Yet the country’s roads are in the worst condition in a generation. 

The media’s report of 1,500 potholes on the vital Naparima-Mayaro Road ties into the loan, which was granted by the Development Bank of Latin America, also called CAF. 

Member of Parliament for Mayaro Rushton Paray, whose constituency covers a large part of the dilapidated road, recently called on Works Minister Rohan Sinanan to explain the use to which the $1.2 billion loan was put. 

MP Paray reminded that the loan was meant for the rehabilitation, construction and maintenance of roads. 

He noted that “the Government has never accounted for the sizable loan.” 

The parliamentarian called on the minister to “prioritise road repairs and include Naparima-Mayaro Road among those for urgent attention.” 

He noted that the road “is in a collapsed state and requires extensive and immediate repairs.” 

The road, Paray observed, supports the energy sector and several farming communities. 

As a result of the poor condition, Public Transport Service Corporation temporarily suspended its service some months ago. 

Paray said that “the cruel abandonment” of the road “is a clear example of the rural neglect inflicted by the PNM Government.” 

He stated that the Government should revise its timetable on optional works, such as the Tobago airport and Toco seaport, “and prioritise badly-neglected roads where prompt and comprehensive action is required.” 

A daily newspaper has reported that as a result of the condition of Naparima-Mayaro Road, “busted tyres” and “thousand-dollar repair bills” have become “part of the norm.” 

The newspaper stated that residents and motorists are “now at a boiling point.”