radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Dr Don Samuel, an engineer at the University of the West Indies (UWI), is urging the Government to immediately identify all the roads that are expected to be fixed with the new $450 million allocation given to the Secondary Road Rehabilitation and Improvement Company (SRRIC) and the Programme Upgrade for Road Efficiency (PURE).
This follows a statement from the Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi (under whose portfolio the SRRIC falls) that roadworks will be ramped up soon with the new $450 million allocation.
Speaking to Guardian Media on Monday, Samuel said while he maintains the SRRIC is a “duplication of services executed by the municipal corporations and Ministry of Works and Transport,” there are still some aspects that can be supported.
“I have noticed the chairman’s intention to operate the company with transparency, zero tolerance on corruption, prioritisation of repairs, equity across municipal corporations, use of selective/public tendering, evaluate performance of contractors, accountability with value for money, resolving the issue of the shortage of bitumen and adequate allocations of funds,” he said.
Noting that he welcomes the “good-natured intentions,” Samuel said he hoped in the coming months “action will speak louder than words.”
“The citizenry is frustrated and concrete actions are now needed to ensure that our roads are safe to drive,” he said.
He reiterated his call for the SRRIC to share with the nation the list of roads to be repaired across the 14 municipal corporations.
“This would assuage the frustrations of the citizenry and would certainly foster accountability and a healthy relationship with the public,” he added.
“Once the list is shared, then progress reports should be provided to the public monthly so that the citizens could determine the value of their paid taxes,” he added.
Last week, Works Minister Rohan Sinanan said the Government has been facing a backlash because of the poor state of the nation’s roads. He noted that 300 road projects have been completed this year but citizens have been demanding to see the list of works done.
Asked which roads will be prioritised for repairs now that there was an additional allocation of funds, Sinanan said data is available and the technical team will be using it to determine which roads will be fixed.
Al-Rawi explained why roads were not being maintained.
He said: “We are now coming off the back of COVID with a $13 to $14 billion deficit. We could not attend to roads in the manner of secondary roads before now. We are aggregating the data. Its combination effort in terms of info flowing from the Ministry of Works, Ministry of Rural Development, PURE and the 14 regional corporations.”
He also said the PURE Unit had access to $250 million to be used to pave roads while the SRRIC has been allocated $200 million.