Stacy: PNM stopped ‘Diego’ highway project

Minister of State in the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure and Member of Parliament for Oropouche West, Hon. Stacy Roopnarine, MP.
Photo Courtesy: Office the Parliament.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Works Stacy Roopnarine yesterday denied the claim made by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley that this Government had stopped work on the Diego Martin Highway when it came into office in 2010.

She was speaking in the budget debate in the House of Representatives yesterday.

Roopnarine said she listened in awe as she heard Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley saying it was the People’s Partnership Government which had stopped the Diego Martin Highway project. “Nothing is further from the truth,” she said.

She also recalled Rowley gave credit to Colm Imbert, who is MP for Diego Martin North East, whom Rowley said lobbied so vehemently in the House for the project to be continued that he was put out.

Said Roopnarine: “I want to ask today if it was not this same member (Imbert) who served as Minister of Works and Transport for five long years. So the Diego Martin Highway expansion project was not a priority in those five years for their own constituents, but 2010 a new government comes into office and they (the PNM Diego Martin MPs) come knocking on the door and it becomes a priority.”

Roopnarine added: “The fact remains that it was this Government and this Prime Minister which officially opened this year the Diego Martin Highway project.”

She said she wanted to thank both Imbert and Diego Martin Central MP Amery Browne for attending the opening ceremony, which Rowley, who is Diego Martin West MP, did not attend.

Turning to the Point Fortin Highway, Roopnarine said 342 people to date had been relocated at a cost of $320 million.

She said there was 91 per cent local content in the billion-dollar contract to construct the major highway.

She also said Government undertook to relocate residents to the Petit Mon area, squatters to the Picton area and was in the process of developing lands in Golconda for the farmers.

She said 88 squatters received lots in Picton, 50 residents received lots in Petit Mon with an additional 60 letters of offer being sent to persons. She said previously when other governments built highways, persons would be waiting ten to 20 years to receive compensation for lands acquired. “We are trying our best to settle, without huge disturbances to the affected people. Though we know that there is a price to progress,” she said.

Roopnarine also rapped Rowley for stating that a PNM government would do a feasibility study into the Rapid Rail Project. She said people voted against this in May 2010. “I really believe that there is more than meets the eye with this project,” she said.

She said in the process of the award for the design, build, operate and maintain contract to Trinitrain consortium, there was no socio-economic study before this award was given. She said the other strange thing was that the oversight consultant engaged by Nidco reported directly to the former president of Nidco.

She said there was little interaction among the engineers and planners in the Ministry of Works and Nidco. “This is not normal. It is critical that engineers and planners are involved in the process,” she said.

Roopnarine said it was only at the end of phase one of the project that Trinitrain Consortium was able to estimate the cost of the project at US$7.36 billion (TT46 billion). She said however that would have been additional cost since the route would have gone through the Port of Port of Spain and would have involved relocation cost for the Port as well as acquisition costs.

She said $500 million was spent to determine that the project was not feasible, Yet, she said, Rowley was saying that the future PNM Government would do another feasibility study. “There is a word that defines doing that same thing in the hope of a different result- that word is madness. And I think that is what is going on here,” Roopnarine said.

Roopnarine defended the establishment of the $410 million Constituency Fund for all constituencies, saying that the State needed to give MPs resources in light of the right of recall provision in the Constitution Amendment bill. She said the PNM wanted to deny the population the right to recall non-performing MPs and the PNM also wanted to deny constituents the facility of receiving goods and services from their MPs.

EXPRESS