KEVON FELMINE

kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt

Works and Trans­port Min­is­ter Ro­han Sinanan says his Min­istry stands ready to as­sist res­i­dents of Hous­sa Trace whose lives are ham­pered by a col­lapsed bridge in their com­mu­ni­ty.

On Sat­ur­day, the res­i­dents lit tyres and rub­bish across the road in protest, say­ing that farm­ers could not get their pro­duce out while an am­bu­lance could not re­spond swift­ly to help a preg­nant woman be­cause it had to take a lengthy de­tour.

It led Coun­cil­lor for Caratal/Tor­tu­ga Jen­na Lee Ra­moutar-Ram­sa­roop to call on Sinanan to bring re­lief to the res­i­dents by in­stalling a bai­ley bridge. Ra­moutar-Ram­sa­roop said the Cou­va/Tabaquite/Tal­paro Re­gion­al Cor­po­ra­tion did not have the funds to re­pair the bridge.

But Sinanan told Guardian Me­dia yes­ter­day the Coun­cil­lor should know that there is a process to fol­low. He said the Min­istry no­ticed lo­cal gov­ern­ment rep­re­sen­ta­tives in­sti­gat­ed sev­er­al re­cent protests. He said they are ful­ly aware that if a re­gion­al cor­po­ra­tion can­not af­ford a project, it can write to the Min­istry of Rur­al De­vel­op­ment and Lo­cal Gov­ern­ment for as­sis­tance.

“I can­not re­call any­thing about this bridge com­ing to my of­fice. Even so, there is a process and if the Min­istry of Lo­cal Gov­ern­ment needs as­sis­tance, we col­lab­o­rate with them from time to time. All the Coun­cil­lor has to do is go through the Cor­po­ra­tion and write to the Min­istry of Rur­al De­vel­op­ment and Lo­cal Gov­ern­ment. The Coun­cil­lor should know bet­ter,” Sinanan said.

On Fri­day, a truck dam­aged the aged, wood­en bridge. Res­i­dents said they are now forced to make a five-mile de­tour to get to Clax­ton Bay and Mayo.