As counter-productive and frustrating as the traffic gridlock caused by the capsizing of the gas tanker on the Solomon Hochoy Highway on Tuesday was, thankfully it did not end up in serious injury or loss of life. What it did however was to put the authorities on alert as to the potential for massive and serious disaster. Perhaps we have not sufficiently considered there are serious risks because of the large energy installations and very flammable and dangerous fluids and gases that are transported across the country. Most assuredly the time has come for a full assessment of all the security and safety risks that exist from the storage and transportation of fuels and gases, especially in the public domain.
New safety standards may be as basic as speed limits allowed for these super tankers. For instance, it may very well be that the 50-mile an hour speed limit allowed for regular vehicles cannot be the same for the drivers of the super tankers. There could also be legitimate grounds for the gas tankers to be on the highways and major roadways only at specific times of the day and night. Such a regulation would certainly prevent the possibility of the kind of gridlock caused by Tuesday's incident.
Beyond the snarling of traffic, if the large tankers are not allowed on the major highways at peak hours that would most certainly reduce the number of people who are on the roads and exposed to a large accident like the one we escaped this week.
Research and scrutiny of the vehicles which transport the dangerous fuels must be conducted in order to ensure that they meet the highest standard of maintenance for the vehicles. The stringent standards of road worthiness should also extend to requirements for the vehicles to have safety devices on board. For instance, it was reported that it was the fire service tenders and officers who spread the foam on the ground to reduce the possibility of everything around the site going up in flames. Surely, if not by the manufacturers, the energy companies here could devise ways and means to have the vehicles equipped with devices which could be used in an emergency and before the fire tenders arrive on the scene.
And what of a look again at the granting and holding of permits to legitimately drive the tankers? The second element of the tragedy avoided, by default, is the need for the development and upgrading of the secondary road network. Even with the most elaborate safety and security system, accidents and unexpected outcomes will take place. What is needed is an equally sophisticated and updated escape plan for citizens and all road users. The reports indicated that the Works and Transport Minister, from the vantage perch of a helicopter, did assist in the diversion of some of the traffic, and that he also instructed the putting on of a few more trips by the water taxis. But as necessary as they were, they come in reaction to the events and are ad hoc in nature. What is needed is a very deliberate and well thought-out plan to create alternative routes alongside the major roadways of the country.
Along the east-west corridor between Port-of-Spain and Arima, there are a few options. But what of alternative routes out of the thickly populated west coast, Diego Martin, Carenage and Chaguaramas?
As demonstrated by the gridlock of Tuesday, while there are a few roadways alongside the highways north to south, the old Southern Main Road for instance, they have not been systematically prepared as ready alternatives. It is always better to be safe than sorry.