Member of Parliament (MP) for Cumuto/Manzanilla Dr Rai Ragbir says he will not attend any screening by the United National Congress for the upcoming general election.
He filed nomination papers in April this year in the hope of once again contesting the seat.
“I know that I would not be selected ... I know someone else will be selected,” Ragbir said.
But it does not seem his Cumuto/Manzanilla residents will be weeping for him.
Guardian Media visited the constituency last week and many complained about the lack of representation they received from Ragbir.
“I never saw the guy, I never vote for him,” constituent Balo Tewarie said.
According to Tewarie, the deplorable road conditions were the main issues faced by the 28,000 voters in the eastern constituency.
He revealed that while he anticipates the completion of the Cumuto to Sangre Grande Highway extension, no work was done on the main roads.
“The road, you ain’t reach Cumuto yet? Why Ragbir, why Ragbir, he ain’t do nothing in the last four, five years, Why Ragbir,” Tewarie asked.
Further, along the Cumuto Main Road, mini-mart owner Ricky Mahabir said the bad roads often affect his sales.
“In this business, customers doesn’t even want to stop here sometimes because of the road, sometimes it have traffic jam til the next corner and they can’t even pass, sometimes I have to open my gate for four, five vehicles to drive in,” he said.
Mahabir explained that those same conditions also hamper police presence in the area.
He recounted that bandits were caught trying to break into his establishment in the wee hours of the morning.
He believes that due to the length of time it took police officers to manoeuvre the bad roads, the bandits easily escaped.
“They never show up. Sometimes, right here it had bandits stop out in a car my mother going market, and when you called the police no response, yes they answer the phone but not even a patrol, not even a road block to say stop them,” he claimed.
Mahabir said the community needs more than one police station to protect the constituency, especially with the condition of the roads.
“They say the roads bad and it’s just one vehicle we even had meetings, nobody attending the meetings, when it have crime now the police and them not coming on time,” he said.
The businessman was also unhappy with Ragbir’s decision to go against the United National Congress (UNC) and support the Whistleblower legislation in the House of Representatives in June this year.
“For the longest while I seeing many of them doing this when they find the PNM is rising they want to jump aboard and when they find something wrong with them now they going back to the UNC,” he lamented.
“I feel Dr Rai Ragbir have to step down and give somebody else a chance, somebody younger who can build back this community,” Mahabir said.
In the last three General Elections (2010, 2015, 2020) the UNC has comfortably won the Cumuto/Manzanilla seat, with three different candidates—Colin Partap, Christine Newallo-Hosein and Ragbir.
But bad roads are not the only issues facing constituents. For 27-year-old Jeurard Didier, there is a lack of opportunities for young people in the constituency. He said the area savannah that was lit two years ago has turned into an overgrown, dark field.
“We need more programmes to get the youths involved because we have a lot of young people in this community ... so there is nothing for the youths to be really interactive with, that is where crime could be started. I should say because other than social media the youths does be out on the streets plenty in this community, so they could get into the wrong company,” he lamented.
Didier said he’s never seen or met MP Ragbir in person. He said he has only seen Ragbir on a flyer and believes if he interacted with the youths more, he would know their concerns.
“I’m sorry they feel that way’
However, Ragbir said he tried his best.
Speaking via telephone, Ragbir pointed to some of the road works his office participated in such as the new Manzanilla Mayaro Road, the highway from Cumuto to Manzanilla and the repair of a major landslip in the vicinity of the Unipet Gas Station. The MP added that when he took up office he began repairs on a 6-year-old and a 23-year-old landslides in the constituency.
“Like Princes Town, Moruga, Sangre Grande, we have a different type of infrastructure...It creates movement,” he explained.
MP Ragbir said in the last four years he has constructed box drains and repaired potholes.
He also alluded to the commissioning of two booster stations, as well as, the book drives, health fairs, dengue clinic and other work he did for the constituency.
“Well I’m sorry they felt that way, my office is always open ... I use the Parliament to represent, I have my page open, I have officers out there,” he said.
He reminded his constituents that he is an Opposition MP and hopes whoever the UNC selects next can do a better job.
“It have gaping holes and infrastructural issues but it’s something that comes with time, I just pray and hope that my successor does a better job than me,” he said.
He said as a Christian man he was proud of his tenure.
“I know I will be out of politics. But I will be there beyond politics for the people in Cumuto/Manzanilla,” Ragbir said.