Yes! So Dr Kublalsingh's hunger strike is over! Thank the Lord! I hope he quickly regains his normal health and this 20-day fast has had minimal impact on his organs. Now that this strike is over and an independent review is underway, can we say that we have won a battle? Dr Kublalsingh spoke of cost benefit analysis and the additional expense the Government was going to incur with their original route. He proposed a different route which is supposed to save this country millions.
But have we really won that part of the fight? Wasn't the Re-Route Movement aware that while this independent review is taking place and work is halted on the highway the contractors hired would move to make a claim for delays? It's a US$70,000-a-day claim for 60 days. I leave the taxpayers to do the maths.
Bet your bottom dollar (or a couple million dollars) that these contractors will make that claim. This is in addition to the cost that was incurred by the Government earlier in the year when the Re-Route Movement erected a protest camp at the site.
It should also be noted that an environmental impact assessment can take four years so all the costs we are going to have to pay while the review is being done plus the cost of the review itself would have an immense impact on the highway budget.
I hope the Attorney General is prepared to go through another possible arbitration. I don't know if we would walk out with stuffed pockets as with the BAE and WGTL settlement but we shall rest our faith in the AG and his legal team who is on an apparent roll.
Allan Hewitt
Maraval