Works and Infrastructure Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan says crime continues to have an adverse effect on the million-dollar road-paving projects in parts of the country. He said so during the Finance Standing Committee meeting of the House of Representatives yesterday. The committee, which is meeting this week in public for the first time, is looking at provisions contained in the $64.4 billion budget for 2015.
Rambachan was responding to claims of discrimination by Opposition MP Marlene Mc Donald in the road-paving projects. She said she had been begging Rambachan to pave certain roads in her constituency which included areas of east Port-of-Spain. In response, Rambachan told parliamentarians the contractors were experiencing security challenges from the residents of those areas.
“It is a fact that we are having difficulty getting contractors who want to work in those areas,” he added. Rambachan recalled that last year a contractor “refused to work in the Belmont/Gonzales area because the contractor had to pay $30,000 (coward tax) to get his equipment out of there. He couldn’t start a number of roads in that area.” He said contractors were “afraid of the loss of their equipment.”
Questioned by reporters, Rambachan listed other areas where contractors have security problems. “Mainly in the Diego Martin and Port-of-Spain areas, we have had problems where contractors have faced very great difficulty in doing work and have been refusing to work in those areas. “Right now a contractor has refused to do work in Petite Lal Road, Diego Martin Central.”
Rambachan, who is also responsible for the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP), said similar situations were happening in that programme in Enterprise, Chaguanas. He said on Monday night a contractor complained to him about having to hire police for protection to continue the particular job.
In response to questions, Rambachan said a contractor would prefer to pay a $30,000 “tax” than lose a piece of equipment valued at $1 million. He told legislators the Government spent more than $42 million to pave roads in Port-of-Spain South, more than $36 million in Laventille West and Laventille East/Morvant since it assumed office in 2010.
In response to a question from Opposition MP Colm Imbert, Rambachan said a contract for the restoration of President’s House would be awarded in March. The roof of the building collapsed on the eve of the 2010 general election.
The $1.3 billion allocation to the ministry was later approved.