On Sunday March 15, I attended the TV6's Town meeting in Sangre Grande. My MP Dr Rupert Griffith was asked to comment on the state of the roadway into Matelot and along the Toco Main Road, along with other areas of development. He boasted of some seven miles of box drains and road paving carried out in the area since 2010.
As the president of both the Matelot Village Council and the Matelot Kingfishers Association I am the best position to lay the facts on the table. The MP is being misguided with information and should visit the area before making erroneous claims on national television.
1. The leaning walls never collapsed in Matelot. The contracting company has left the roadway unfinished and the quality of work done was poor as evident by the current state of the road. We want to know what was the sum paid to this company?
2. The paving exercise was done for two and a half miles only; box drains are incomplete in most areas and there is only one contractor in the area.
3. As the Minister of Tourism he never put measures in place to develop the local tourist industry in the Toco/Sangre Grande area. The lighthouse at Toco has been rebranded with Keshorn Walcott's name to a great shame. The beaches are over-used and under developed.
4. Employment and career opportunities remain number one in Cepep and URP. Unemployment is at an all-time high in this constituency. We also belong to the poorest regions in the country. Sangre Grande remains void of an industrial estate or industry (as a means of creating a couple hundred jobs.)
5. Toco has made the list of the HDC, however the houses that were constructed have been earmarked for individuals out of the area. Toco people not good enough for HDC houses!
6. The fishermen too are feeling the pinch. Recent rough seas have left them with damaged equipment and no income. The facilities were without electricity since last year August (Matelot). The Ministry of Planning set aside work to be done some two years ago which remain to date incomplete. Grand Riviere fishing facility, while completed two years ago, is unoccupied at the moment and is without electricity.
7. Agriculture continues to take a backseat in these areas while it is be boosted in other parts of the country (Cumuto/Mazanilla).
8. Crime has started to take its toll on our community, through the illegal drug trade.
9. No opportunity for the youths. We still have to leave the area to be educated, participate in sporting events and seek employment.
So Mr Griffith, get the facts right; in an election year the people will not be fooled. Toco may not have the numbers to win the seat but we have the numbers to make you lose the seat.
Anderson Zoe
Matelot