Charles challenges Imbert: Drive on Garth Road anytime to understand the plight of Naparima constituents

Naparima MP Rodney Charles is challenging Minister Imbert to drive his tax free, million dollar, luxury vehicle along Garth Road at 20 kph any day. Only then will he fully understand the daily frustrations which constituents face on what Councillor Vashti Sookoo (Williamsville/Hardbargain/Ben Lomond) describes as “the worst road in the country”.

This comes in the wake of Minister Imbert’s statement in Parliament yesterday that “more money is spent to repair rural roadways than urban roads.”

What he fails to appreciate are the highly unstable geological conditions prevalent throughout Naparima and other areas of South Trinidad which call for special attention.

The Piparo volcano, Devil’s Woodyard and the thousands of landslides speak to highly unstable soils. Further, the great geographic spread of rural constituencies, compared to the compact roadways in urban areas, demand much bigger allocations.

Garth Road is a 3 mile obstacle course with over 50 landslides and 250 potholes.

Constituents are actively considering petitioning to rename Garth Road: the Colm Imbert Boulevard.

MP Charles is also making a similar call to Works and Transport Minister, Rohan Sinanan, to drive along Jaipaulsingh Road. This has been described by Fifth Company Councillor Rafi Mohammed as “the second worst road in Trinidad and Tobago”.

Jaipaulsingh Road has hundreds of large potholes and consideration is being given to a petition for it to be renamed “Sinanan Drive”.

It is time Minister Imbert and Minister Sinanan come out of their air conditioned offices and experience first-hand the frustrations of commuters and the inadequacy of the budgetary allocations to deal effectively with terrible road conditions.

The Princes Town Regional Corporation, responsible for over 700 secondary roads and agricultural access traces, for example was allocated a mere $4million in the 2019 budget. The THA responsible for roughly one third the population was allocated $15 million.

MP Charles is making it abundantly clear that he is not against Tobago getting $11 million more for secondary roads. He is of the view, however, that Naparima’s allocation should be significantly increased.

Rodney Charles
MP for Naparima