After three consecutive days of protest over the condition of the roads in their area, residents along Cumuto Main Road have agreed to end the protest.An agreement was reached yesterday after a heated three-hour meeting with Cumuto/Manzanilla MP Collin Partap at his constituency office located at the corner of the Eastern Main Road and Guaico Main Road, Sangre Grande.
At a press conference after the meeting, Partap publicly retracted and apologised for previous statements made in the media that the residents' protest was politically motivated.The group of about 50 residents who attended the meeting apologised for alleged insulting statements made towards councillor for the area Nirmal Singh and Partap.
Earlier this week, Partap refused to meet with the residents while they were engaging in the protest. On Monday, residents of Coryal, Carmichael, Four Roads and Housing Village began protest action by blocking the Cumuto Main Road several points with debris.Partap said: "We had a communication problem before...We are going to work on future dialogue.""I am going to meet Works Minister Jack Warner to discuss permanent plans for the repair of the roads," Partap said.
Partap also indicated that funding was already allocated for the road repairs. Leader of the Tamana Pressure Group, Felix Diaz, who led discussions yesterday for the residents, said if residents did not see action soon they would restart protest."We (residents) are hoping that Partap keeps to his word on the promises made during our meeting," Diaz said.