I am a daily user of the Southern Main Road that passes by the Petrotrin Refinery in Pointe-a-Pierre.In recent times there have been a return to the bad old days of traffic jams on mornings due to the indiscriminate parking by Petrotrin employees on the roadway outside the refinery.Several years ago, road users had to endure the daily nightmare of traffic jams through Marabella and Pointe-a-Pierre, where a five-minute journey would sometimes take as much as an hour, with traffic backing up over two miles north of Pointe-a-Pierre.When alternative arrangements were made for parking and no parking was instituted along the entire roadway outside the refinery, as if a magic wand was waved, all the traffic jams disappeared.In the past months the gradual return to parking on the roadway has seen the return of the bad old days. On Monday, I took 45 minutes to travel from the Marabella roundabout to just north of Pointe-a-Pierre hill, a journey which would normally take no more than five minutes. Image the chaos if this occurred during the school term.Perhaps, Petrotrin can utilise its large underworked security detail to be more active to prevent the horrors that the travelling public has to endure. Petrotrin as a good corporate citizen must ensure that its operations do not impact negatively on ordinary citizens.Inaction by Petrotrin's management can only further affect this already fragile economy, since not only is efficient distribution of fuel from Petrotrin at stake but the smooth operation of industries like TCL and other large ones in the Point Lisas Industrial Estate that rely on this vital roadway.
RB Khan
Pointe-a-Pierre