Following the tragic death of a 57-year-old female Police Officer earlier this week in a vehicular accident in Gasparillo, Couva North MP Ravi Ratiram is demanding that the Government step up the repair and maintenance of the highway cable barriers throughout the country.
Media reports state that WPC Susan Duncan-Thomas, attached to the Maloney Police Station, was almost instantly killed on Wednesday night (26th October 2022) when a Nissan Navara pickup crossed the Southbound lane of the Solomon Hochoy Highway and ploughed into her vehicle, which was proceeding along the Northbound lane. The accident occurred in the vicinity of the Harmony Hall Overpass in Gasparillo, an area where there were at one time, functional protective cable barriers. In a Media Release on Friday (28th October 2022), the United National Congress (UNC) said, “Under the forward-thinking UNC/PP Government led by then Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, cable barriers were installed along several sections of the Solomon Hochoy Highway, due to the prevalence of incidents similar to that which took the life of WPC Duncan-Thomas. Since September 2015, the Rowley-led PNM has notoriously been dragging its feet in the maintenance and repair of these life-saving cable barriers.” Answering a question posed in Parliament by the Opposition in June this year with respect to the maintenance of the barriers, Minister of Works and Transport, Rohan Sinanan, responded by saying that material from the sites where the barriers are in place were being stolen. “This excuse provided by Minister Sinanan serves to underscore the Government’s lackadaisical and bureaucratic approach towards the maintenance and repair of this safety mechanism, as well as the need for more regular TTPS patrols along the nation’s highways,” the UNC said. At the recently concluded Standing Finance Committee, the Opposition again raised the issue, when MP Ratiram spoke to the issue of Government’s failure to utilize a $2 million allocation in fiscal 2022 for the ‘Provision of a Road Safety Audit.’ The Couva North MP stated that, “I would like to recommend to you that consideration be given by the Ministry to look at the danger by not attending to these barriers and when the barriers have actually been compromised from accidents, by not repairing those areas that have been compromised, it is putting motorists’ lives at risk.” The Minister responded by saying, “It’s a constant work in progress with these barriers and cables; this is a constant work and the Ministry continues to look at them and to have them on a project.” However, media articles published in January this year stated that the cable barriers along that very same Gasparillo section of the highway were to be repaired, yet from an observation of the scene of the accident earlier this week, there were no functional cable barriers in place. The Couva North MP is calling on the Government to put an end to their “Jerri-meandering of the maintenance and repair of the cable barriers along our nation’s highways and to stop risking the lives of our citizens through their uncaring incompetence.” [Source: UNC] We are a small operation. If you've found our articles to be informative, please consider supporting us via PayPal or buying us a coffee. Your contribution is incredibly appreciated and goes a long way. Simply sharing our articles also helps us. Sign up for our free WhatsApp Alerts to be notified as soon as we post breaking news. NEW! Check out our Merchandise Store for high-quality t-shirts, hats and more!
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