The road collapse at the intersection of Frederick and Queen Janelle Commissiong streets, Port-of-Spain, which led to a vehicle being stuck and damaged, was finally repaired yesterday.
Repairs were completed by the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) at approximately 2.45 pm, ahead of its 6 pm deadline.
On Monday evening, the vehicle fell into the sizable pothole as the motorist drove along the major roadway.
WASA blamed the road collapse on a leaking six-inch diameter pipeline.
In a statement yesterday, WASA stated that repair works in the area had been undertaken and completed overnight on Monday.
However, the authority revealed that another leak developed early Tuesday on the cast iron pipeline in close proximity to the initial repairs.
As a result, emergency repairs had to be conducted.
The road collapse in the heart of the capital city was highlighted by the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA). The business group also advised the public to use alternative routes as urgent repairs were being done at the intersection of the streets.
Speaking with Guardian Media via phone yesterday, Port-of-Spain Mayor Chinua Alleyne said it was a collaborative effort between the Port-of-Spain City Corporation, Ministry of Public Utilities, WASA and T&TEC to fix the road hazard in the shortest possible time.
He admitted that the works would have impacted motorists, pedestrians and even business owners.
“I’m sure that the works would have affected everybody’s regular activities in the city, but nobody plans for a pipe to rupture. So the team has been onsite since last night (Monday night). A lot of people have been impacted by what has happened but it’s not a planned thing and we just do the work that we have to do to make sure that the city returns to its normal functioning as quickly as possible,” he added.
When Guardian Media visited the site in the evening, the pothole was fixed however, vehicles were still unable to access Queen Street from Henry Street to Fredrick Street as it remained closed off.
Workers and managers at several clothing and toy stores on Queen Janelle Commissiong Street, Frederick and Henry streets also said sales were negatively affected by the road collapse and repair work.
An employee at Cookies and Cream Toy Store on Queen Street, KL Joyett said, “It affected us because customers weren’t up and down as usual. Today (Tuesday) was extra, extra slow. As construction was going on, it slowed things down during the day. Only when the works started to ease up then we started to get more customers... The loss today was higher than usual.”
A sales representative at a clothing store on Queen Janelle Commissiong Street said, “It definitely affected sales. Normally it has a flow of people walking the street but today was the worst. No one spoke to us about it (repair works). We only saw things being done in the street.”