Point Fortin mayor Clyde Paul says he cannot understand why the Government is “stressing out” the people rather than taking an easier route to build the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin. Speaking at a Highway Re-route Movement meeting on Wednesday at City Hall, Port-of-Spain, Paul said it was unfortunate a highway which had been proposed since the 1960s had not been built yet.
He said as a result of all the controversy surrounding the disputed Debe to Mon Desir leg of the highway, the people of Point Fortin were unsure of whether the highway would ever reach their borough. That was despite the fact that work already had began on the Golconda section of the highway, he added. “The people in the borough of Point Fortin support the Point Fortin highway. It will bring development that the area needs,” said Paul.
However, he added, residents in the borough did not believe the highway would ever reach Point Fortin. “In fact, the only guarantee that the highway would reach Point Fortin was if it had started being built from the borough,” he added. Paul said he had approached the Ministry of Works with that idea in 2010 and after meeting with technocrats was told the idea to start construction of the highway in Point Fortin was a good one. However, Paul said, he never received any further communication from the ministry.
He said the borough also was dealing with issues, such as high unemployment, an issue which the construction of the highway could have helped. He added: “We have 18 per cent unemployment within the age group 18 to 25. The highway was supposed to help with unemployment. That has not happened. “I cannot understand why the Government is stressing out the people when it can take an easy route and spend less money.
“We really need that highway. Start the highway from Point Fortin so everyone can be happy.” The Golconda section of the highway was officially opened yesterday but no significant work on the route to Point Fortin has begun.