The Highway Re-route Movement (HRM), led by Dr Wayne Kublalsingh, is set to take further action after a meeting with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar resulted in a walkout by Persad-Bissessar yesterday. Kublalsingh told members of the media after the meeting that further action would occur outside of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), St Clair, and invited the media to a press conference outside the OPM on Tuesday. Yesterday’s meeting at the Diplomatic Centre, La Fantasie Road, St Ann’s, began shortly after 4 pm and lasted for approximately 15 minutes after which Persad-Bissessar was seen walking out of the room. Kublalsingh had requested the meeting with Persad-Bissessar after the group was told by National Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (Nidco) representatives that work was expected to begin on the Debe to Mon Desir leg of the San Fernando to Point Fortin highway.
Kublalsingh said Minister of State in the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure Stacy Roopnarine, Local Government and Works Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan and Planning Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie were also at the meeting. He said the movement basically asked Persad-Bissessar if, having commissioned a review of the Debe to Mon Desir Highway, she would abide by the conditions of the agreement between the JCC, Fitun and the Government. Persad-Bissessar’s response, he said, was that she did not know. The PM, Kublalsingh added, told the delegation she had to consult with Nidco. However, they were told that Dr Carson Charles, its president, was away. Kublalsingh said Persad-Bissessar was then asked about the constitutionality of the leg of the highway, it being contested in the courts. He said the group asked if the State would abide by the court’s findings on the matter. He said Persad-Bissessar said she didn’t know. He said a few minutes were spent “explaining to us why we needed to seek an injunction. That is an irrelevant matter.”
Persad-Bissessar, he said, had no answers to the group’s questions. He said the group then asked Rambachan if he knew when work was expected to begin on the highway, to which Rambachan said he did not know. Kublalsingh said he asked if the minister would abide by the conclusions of the Highway Review Committee’s (HRC) report before work begins and Rambachan responded that he did not know. “At which point the Prime Minister seemed to get upset and she stood up and she left the meeting,” he said. Kublalsingh said the group’s next move was “back on the streets because the Government seems not to know what it’s doing. The Prime Minister does not know,” he added. He said the group would stay outside of the OPM until it received a decision from the Prime Minister... “until she gains the knowledge she is searching for. “Apparently she seems to think the knowledge is there in Dr Charles’ head and the knowledge is in the head of the technical experts but she should have the knowledge. She commissioned the report. She made a statement that she would abide by the findings of the court,” he added.
Kublalsingh said he believed the Government was merely trying to prolong or diffuse the matter and get the group off the streets. Asked if the group would seek an injunction to stop the work on the highway, Kublalsingh said the group’s lawyers advised them not to do so. He said: “If we seek an injunction in this matter we will forestall a larger issue here. The larger issue here is the constitutionality of the State’s action removing human populations, destroying wetland areas, destroying businesses, imposing a mega project at tremendous cost. The constitutionality of that has to be tested in the court.” He described Persad-Bissessar’s action of walking out of the meeting as rash, deceptive and elusive. In a statement yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said: “During the meeting, Dr Wayne Kublalsingh asked two questions: “(1) Is the Prime Minister going to abide by the ten recommendations of the Armstrong Committee’s recommendations on the Debe-Mon Desir section of the Point Fortin Highway? “(2) Is the Prime Minister going to abide by the decision of the High Court in a constitutional motion filed by the movement several months ago?”
The PM said she pointed out that the matter was before the High Court and she had no intention to compromise the court case.
The statement added: “I asked Dr Kublalsingh if he sought injunctive relief from the High Court to stop the Debe-Mon Desir section of the highway. “When he said he did not do so, I asked why. Dr Kublalsingh said that was not the advice of the movement’s lawyers whom he named. I pointed out to the members of the movement that while I have every intention of upholding the law, there was no decision of the court to date. “Dr Kublalsingh asked if I had any intention of abiding by the recommendations of the Armstrong Committee. “I said that was a matter for representatives of Nidco and its technical advisers. In the absence of the president of Nidco, Dr Carson Charles (who is out of the country), I said I was not in a position to state what happened to the recommendations. “I suggested that Nidco officials meet with Dr Kublalsingh and his members to discuss what had been done with the Armstrong report.” Persad-Bissessar’s statement said that apparently was not what Kublalsingh wanted to hear. She said she remained resolute “that until I receive advice from the technical advisers at Nidco, I will not be in a position to give an affirmative response, nor will I compromise the court matter.” The PM said she thus brought the meeting to a close and returned to a meeting with the National Security Council.