Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has put local contracts on alert, that there will be more projects on the way very soon for them to work on.
As he commissioned the Diego Martin pedestrian overpass, the Prime Minister said tenders are opening up very soon for the construction of more overpasses “East of Curepe” that would not only create a free flow of traffic but would improve productivity and pave the way for access to areas for housing and business alike.
Speaking before residents of Diego Martin Central and West as well as students of the nearby Four Roads Government Primary School, Rowley said the Diego Martin overpass is a “load off his personal shoulders” since he feared for the safety of children and adults who attempted to navigate their way across the highway.
He said, “I remember the number of instances when I would reflect as member of parliament being at home or in the office since we opened this highway to traffic that uses it, how many times I think about the number of incidents that could happen there. And I think about the parents, who send their children to school from both sides of this highway hoping that at the end of the day, each and every child returns home in this gauntlet of crossing the lanes of fast-moving traffic.”
The Prime Minister said now that the overpass was officially opened, “the burden of carrying that thought” was removed.
That is why he urged both the children and teachers to ensure the $10 million overpass was properly utilised. To enforce his point, he even went down memory lane to refer to his days as a student at the Bishops High School in Tobago, where the teachers there ensured the children obeyed the road rules and were disciplined if they broke them.
Rowley said with the overpass drivers would be more inclined to drive not expecting to see a pedestrian trying to cross.
“ As of today not a single one of you would ever cross this highway without going over the overpass. No matter how free the traffic appears, no matter how busy you are, consider it a life-threatening event to walk across this highway after today,” said the prime minister.
But as he continued to promote the use of the pedestrian overpass he also praised the contractor for delivering the project on time and said it was a good indication about the capabilities of local contractors.
This the Prime Minister said comes at a time when the Government will be undertaking the construction of several more pedestrian overpasses.
“And very soon we’d be going out to tender to ask contractors to put in their best price and best foot forward to build overpasses going eastwards at UWI, at Macoya, At Trincity Mall, at Piarco- Golden Grove Junction, Piarco,” he said.
The Prime Minister added that the overpasses would create a “zone of traffic without stoppage” and would “contribute significantly to the productivity of Trinidad and Tobago...without these blockages you can go freely.”
He said it would also mean that citizens can access “a number of areas for housing and business that are not now being utilisied.”
Rowley added that the construction of the Diego Martin Pedestrian Overpass and those to come in the “very near future” were an instance where public money is being used to improve lives.