There is no national shutdown today, so use extreme caution on roads, especially the Uriah Butler Highway. So said Communication Minister Stuart Young yesterday as he appealed to hundreds of thousands of people unaffected by recent adverse weather to come to work as usual today.
“Government has taken a decision that it isn’t going to be a national shut-down day. Certain areas are still affected, that will continue to be worked out but we need our citizens who can get to work to continue along their daily lives to do so,” he said.
Young said it is up to people, but the entire country could bot be shut down since this will have knock-on effects.
He made the appeal at a media briefing yesterday after he and Works Minister Rohan Sinanan did an aerial tour of flood-affected areas and touched down in some communities. This followed the bad weather which caused the Caroni River to burst its banks flooding communities mainly along the East-West corridor and central Trinidad. The situation has deemed a national disaster.
Young said: “There has been no report of fatalities. I hope it stays that way. Thank you to all citizens, sectors, services, groups who’ve come out to help. We’ll continue to push resources into areas as hard as we can to get life back to normal but it will take some time for those affected,”
He said consideration may be given to closing Government offices early today but that decision couldn’t be made immediately.
Government had considered a school holiday today but Young said that would have involved parents staying home.
However, 23 schools however remain closed today, including eight being used as shelters.
He urged people to car pool to reduce traffic.
Sinanan said the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) will add more buses on the north/south route to assist travellers and those leaving their vehicles at home.
Young advised commuters to use extreme caution on the Uriah Butler Highway and avoid unecessary risks on low lying secondary roads.
“People were still using back roads around 1 am yesterday and becoming trapped by water,” he said
He added that the Uriah Butler Highway’s south bound lane between Munroe Road and the Caroni bridge is still completely under water.
“From what I see the Caroni plains will probably continue to be under water for the next 24 to 48 hours. An assessment of the road will have to be done after,” he aus
The Uriah Butler Highway’s three north-bound lanes are not under water, but one stretch has a some and may require use of the shoulder or two lanes.
Yesterday there was one lane of traffic heading north and one south. Young said that would switch according to the time of day and type of traffic. He warned against breaking raffic lanes.
More police have been requested for that stretch from today.
According to Young, the Meteorological Office predicted more “unusual weather” between last night and today
‘I hope it doesn’t hit us the way it hit us Friday. Don’t take risks,” he said.
Sinanan added: “Our biggest challenge remains the Uriah Butler Highway. Even if water gets to a level where cars can pass, based on what the Met Office forecasts, if that happens as predicted, we will see a challenge today. We’ll be monitoring this.”
Water has subsided in most areas.
* Parts of St Helena, Kelly Village, Warner Village,Mmadras, Mafeking, and kilometres of the Manzanilla road are still flooded. Rescue operations continued.
* Some subsidiary roads, Caroni plains, still under water, especially at high tide.
* Secondary roads in low lying areas not an option coming out of San Fernando. Parts of Southern Main Road are under water.
* Floods have subsided in Sangre Grande.
* Resources continue being channeled to shelters
*TSTT’s services are working including wifi/Internet at some shelters
* Power has been restored to some Greenvale areas.
* Many Wasa plants are back up abd desalination plant production has been increased by 25 per cent.
* Cesspit cleansing begins in some areas.
* Water trucking to shelters continues.