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Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby The_Honourable » August 28th, 2018, 2:47 pm

Gov't free to restart Cumuto highway as Privy Council dismisses FFOS appeal

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The Government is now free to resume work on the Cumuto Highway as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council today dismissed the appeal by Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) against the award of the Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) granted to the Ministry of Works.

The Privy Council’s written judgment will be delivered on 8 October, 2018.

The matter surrounds the granting of a Certificate of Environmental Clearance to the Ministry of Works and Transport in June 2017.

The C.E.C was granted for the establishment of a 5000-meter highway in the Sangre Grande area.

FFOS alleged that the EMA’s grant of the permit to the ministry was “unreasonable, illegal, procedurally improper, irrational, null and void and of no effect.”

Source: http://www.cnc3.co.tt/press-release/gov ... fos-appeal

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby The_Honourable » October 3rd, 2018, 12:39 pm

A new deadline date is in effect as work resumes on the Manzanilla Highway.

The ruling in the Privy Council was handed down on Tuesday in favour of the Government.

On Tuesday, Works Minister Rohan Sinanan was at the site to look at the progress of the first phase.


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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby shake d livin wake d dead » January 1st, 2019, 2:01 pm

So allyuh expect this to finish by next year...I can tell you from very reliable sources....No WAY IT FINISHING...all kinda racket running

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby Rory Phoulorie » January 1st, 2019, 3:34 pm

shake d livin wake d dead wrote:So allyuh expect this to finish by next year...I can tell you from very reliable sources....No WAY IT FINISHING...all kinda racket running

What kind of racket? Buss some files nah.

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby The_Honourable » April 30th, 2019, 9:47 pm

On April 3rd, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, Minister of Works and Transport, Rohan Sinanan and NIDCO officials toured the construction site of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla. The expansion is projected to significantly reduce traffic congestion in Sangre Grande and surrounding areas as motorists will benefit from a four-lane, free-flow highway.


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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby De Dragon » April 30th, 2019, 11:04 pm

At 0.14 of this video, the narrator says "Manzalinna". This along with Roundy and JUHN Scarfy's presence, made it unwatchable.

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby Blossom » April 30th, 2019, 11:10 pm

It’s SanGre Grande... not SanDe Grande... that was painful to listen to...

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby Ben_spanna » April 30th, 2019, 11:36 pm

What. Gross misuse of funds that could,other wise be put into necessary health and policing....

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby De Dragon » April 30th, 2019, 11:53 pm

Ben_spanna wrote:What. Gross misuse of funds that could,other wise be put into necessary health and policing....

And it's not like they can't thief from there too. :roll:

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby shake d livin wake d dead » May 1st, 2019, 5:10 am

what bs.....you don't need that highway to reach the capital in less than 1hr.......narrator looking for things to say or wah??? all they had to do was fix existing roads from Grande to Manzan and Toco(save ah whole lot) and use the rest of money elsewhere........but nah, yuh need men with Phd to tell yuh all kinda sheit

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby De Dragon » May 1st, 2019, 5:33 am

shake d livin wake d dead wrote:what bs.....you don't need that highway to reach the capital in less than 1hr.......narrator looking for things to say or wah??? all they had to do was fix existing roads from Grande to Manzan and Toco(save ah whole lot) and use the rest of money elsewhere........but nah, yuh need men with Phd to tell yuh all kinda sheit

Remember that Roundy Rohan was the only person singled out by JUHN Scarfy after the EMailGate election victory in 2015. Roundy simply cashing in now.

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby maj. tom » May 1st, 2019, 6:52 am

I don't support the corruption or the government, but say what you want. Once the infrastructure is there, it's a national investment that will increase communications and access for everyone, especially residents in those areas. Roads and Highways like this are worth it for any country's development. The extension of the highway to Debe (which needs to continue to Pt. Fortin) and beyond was a sound investment for the country's future as well. Despite the costs, it's so important for rural areas to now have communication access for growth and development. More people can now live in areas where there was no easy road access, more businesses can set up with easy access to materials and shipping, more government offices, access to health care, population expansion and productivity. You all need to think 30 to 50 years in the future. Not for us. The roadways that the Americans built in WW2 still there! Where would we be without them starting it?

I would always support roadworks. And engineers here would know that to build a proper durable surface for 20 tonnes to run on it all day ain't easy or cheap.

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby shake d livin wake d dead » May 1st, 2019, 7:12 am

I hear your point 100%....but at the same time when you telling the public you have no moarneyy for more important stuff you spending 400 milli on roads....and are we sure that if govt changes, this project will be completed??...

Just look at a simple project as couva hospital...it ah lil to yellow for a red to open it

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby maj. tom » May 1st, 2019, 7:17 am

Well that's politics. Can't escape that sort of thing as long as humans running things. Every country is like that. There's a brand new 9 Billion USD airport in Berlin that's abandoned, but still costs $25M USD to run monthly. Now that's a different level of corruption, and you would never believe it's Germans doing it.

Politics is quite a nasty game, not easy to understand.

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby aidan » May 1st, 2019, 10:16 am

shake d livin wake d dead wrote:what bs.....you don't need that highway to reach the capital in less than 1hr.......narrator looking for things to say or wah??? all they had to do was fix existing roads from Grande to Manzan and Toco(save ah whole lot) and use the rest of money elsewhere........but nah, yuh need men with Phd to tell yuh all kinda sheit
Exactly. The roads around grande and heading both to toco and Manzanilla are deplorable.

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby aidan » May 1st, 2019, 10:34 pm

By d way.anyone has proper images or maps of this proposed highway? Can't seem to access nidco website

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby The_Honourable » May 1st, 2019, 10:40 pm

aidan wrote:By d way.anyone has proper images or maps of this proposed highway? Can't seem to access nidco website


Only this so far: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=712474#p9591862

Click photos to enlarge.

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby aidan » May 2nd, 2019, 12:16 am

The_Honourable wrote:
aidan wrote:By d way.anyone has proper images or maps of this proposed highway? Can't seem to access nidco website


Only this so far: http://www.trinituner.com/v4/forums/vie ... 4#p9591862

Click photos to enlarge.
Thank you, this was helpful!

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby Ben_spanna » May 2nd, 2019, 7:43 am

streetbeastINC. wrote:All they had to do was simply pave our roads in grande,,, it does not require a highway
:)

YUP! but then people dont get paid as much!

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby The_Honourable » March 26th, 2020, 11:27 pm

Progress of the Sangre Grande highway as of March 2020. Shot on 15 MAR 2020.

Increase the Playback Speed to 2.


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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby maj. tom » March 27th, 2020, 7:17 am

Massive project to cut through the jungle like that. I hope they considered the wild life and ecosystem and will create overpass areas for the vehicles, so that animals can traverse safely under the bridges. And not be cut off and isolated from the natural territory.

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby shake d livin wake d dead » March 27th, 2020, 7:24 am

Come nah man^....you know better than that....Kublalsingh didnt even beyotch for this project

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby speedmelter » March 27th, 2020, 7:05 pm

the amount of squatting villages thats gona come up along that stretch is going to negate the need for eco wildlife conservation considerations, dont worry

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Re: Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla (CRHEM) Project.

Postby The_Honourable » January 15th, 2023, 11:21 pm

Unease by Grande residents, experts over $1.7B CR Highway extension

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More than three years after the Government was granted permission to proceed with its $1.7 billion Churchill-Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla Project by the Privy Council in August 2018, there are renewed concerns about the project.

Academics, environmental activists and Sangre Grande business owners and residents are all questioning the Government’s decision to move forward with the project, which has already cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

While some academics and activists argue that the project is unnecessary from a developmental standpoint, some business owners and residents are claiming that it is worsening flooding in parts of Sangre Grande.

Work on the highway began on January 8, 2018, and Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS), a non-governmental organisation, obtained an interim junction from the High Court stopping work on January 15. Interim judgement was discharged by Justice Ramcharan on February 6, 2018, and reinstated pending the privy council decision.

As evidence to the local courts and the Privy Council in its legal challenge of the highway project, FFOS presented a copy of a Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) unit approval form as requested in 2017 by the Ministry of Works and Transport and NIDCO.

Businessman Gary Aboud, the corporate secretary of FFOS, had claimed that the highway was approved under a nebulous environmental impact assessment that was not properly prepared in consideration of the possible environmental impacts.

In August 2018, the Privy Council dismissed an appeal by the FFOS against an award of the CEC.

Criticisms as the project ‘begins and ends in the forest’

At present, the portion of the project completed begins in the forest bordering the Aripo Savannas–300 metres east of the Cumuto Main Road–and ends in the forest, 600 metres west of Guaico Trace.

Kall Co Ltd was awarded the contract for approximately $400 million.

Approximately 90 meters wide, the site is full of construction material and paved with concrete.

It runs several miles through the forest along a path where scores of trees were cut down.

On Thursday, during a visit to the area, work was ongoing.

The proposed four-lane highway, which the Government said will connect Wallerfield, Cumuto, and Guaico, is also supposed to connect the proposed highway to Toco from an interchange at Ojoe Road in Sangre Grande.

According to NIDCO, the structure will significantly reduce vehicle congestion in Grande and surrounding areas, as well as provide an adequate route to bring relief and evacuate people out of east Trinidad in times of disaster.

However, not everyone sees such value in the project that began in 2019.

Traffic engineer Dr Rae Furlonge is a fierce critic of the highway project.

The traffic engineer does not believe the project is necessary, as it serves little purpose.

“I am a firm believer that when money is tight, you have to restructure your priorities. Who will benefit from these five kilometres? I think it’s more than $200 million on that road and it is not finished yet.

“It’s a secret highway being done. It’s roughly three or four kilometres from the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway, so how does that make sense? It’s like you’re living on a hill and in order to drain your land, you start building the drain on top of the hill. Does that make sense? It is wrong-side engineering,” Dr Furlonge said.

According to him, the highway’s original path was supposed to be slightly north of Valencia but was changed to go to the south instead to lead to a connector road from Valencia Road where a roundabout is being built.

Why not dual the Valencia Stretch?

“The villagers from the area in Cumuto, they tell me land done changing hands already in Cumuto and Manzanilla. Why? Why is that? It tells me somebody is doing something for commercial benefit.

“That highway that they are building now–five or six kilometres–connects the Cumuto Road to the Eastern Main Road. If you wanted to do something useful in the short term, you know what I would have suggested to them? Why not consider extending the Valencia Bypass onto the Eastern Main Road and dual the Eastern Main Road? Why not dual what they call the death strip (the Valencia Stretch) down to Guaico? Wouldn’t that be more useful than a highway in the backroads in Cumuto?” Dr Furlonge asked.

Dr Furlonge also questioned the logic of having the highway pass behind the Tamana InTech Park, which will eventually be the home of the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s main campus.

“How are UTT and Tamana InTech Park going to benefit from a highway behind them? How do you expect to benefit in the short term? I know what they will tell you, they going to build a road to connect that road, and then it will reach back to the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway. But is that logical? Shouldn’t you build from the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway, not from a road that connects nothing?” he questioned.

“You see nonsense and deception, I could do without that,” Dr Furlonge added.

Earlier in the year, Dr Furlonge criticised the Cumuto to Sangre Grande highway and other projects undertaken by the Ministry of Works and Transport under Minister Rohan Sinanan.

In response, Sinanan accused the traffic engineer of attempting to mislead the nation.

In a response published in the daily newspapers, Sinanan said it was unfortunate that Dr Furlonge called the project a “Highway to Nowhere,” saying that areas such as Sangre Grande, Toco, Valencia, Mayaro, Guaico and Manzanilla deserve equal access, infrastructure and opportunities.

Sinanan said that the decision of the ministry to proceed with the south alignment option and not the option north of Valencia was based on the fact that the overall length of the alignment was shorter, the terrain along the southern alignment was flat, and overall construction costs were cheaper.

In his interview with the Sunday Guardian last week, Dr Furlonge accused Sinanan of lying about the reduction in length of the alignment, claiming the southern alignment was longer.

Aboud: It’s a mistake, I don’t understand Sinanan’s logic

Aboud still firmly believes the project is a mistake from both a developmental and environmental perspective.

“Today, we have spent over $500 million on a highway that begins in the forest and ends in the forest. It doesn’t have any road connectivity. It doesn’t make any sense, in terms of a national road network plan. It’s not in a high-traffic area that could alleviate traffic whatsoever, and it would appear to some that it’s like some political favour or payback.

“I don’t understand the logic of Rohan Sinanan, the rationale of spending taxpayers’ money without accountability. It’s nonsense or borderline retardation in a country that’s suffering with so much poverty, trade imbalances, malnutrition, a crime crisis, an underfinancing of national security, failing institutions…There’s a mounting list of tragic circumstances of being broke, yet you want to build a $500 million highway…When are we ever going to complete it?” Aboud asked.

The CEC

There is evidence that the Environmental Management Authority’s (EMA) technical team initially warned the EMA that further investigations to determine the possible environmental impacts of the project were required.

The documents suggested that the team objected to environmental clearance being given for the project, yet a certificate was granted.

The Sunday Guardian viewed a copy of the CEC unit approval form as requested in 2017 by the Ministry of Works and Transport and NIDCO.

In the document, the technical review team, which is supposed to determine whether the project can have negative environmental impacts, clearly stated its concerns and objections to the granting of a CEC.

According to Section B of the form, approvals were required by at least four technical officers.

According to Section C, Summary of Decision, a senior manager at the EMA had instructed, “Please complete your review with the officers by Tuesday 20th Lunchtime and advise me of how you will be addressing the conditions in the CEC…I expect to have a CEC for signature by Thursday 22nd 2017.”

Under Officer Notes on Review of Response to RAR (Riparian Areas [the interface between land and a river or stream] Regulation) an officer wrote, “To date, a proper baseline assessment has not been conducted. Such an assessment forms the basis of any environmental impact assessments…I do not agree that a CEC should be issued for this project at this time since the majority of issues highlighted by the first RAR have not been addressed satisfactorily by the Applicant (MOWT and NIDCO). This is the general consensus of the technical review team.”

The note added that the manager instructed that “the document not be subjected to review by other agencies who formed part of the review team.”

The manager, according to the officer writing the report, also instructed that the document not be subjected to public review.

An officer said of that instruction, “I strongly disagree with this decision/instruction. Pertinent concerns were raised through the public comment process and, as such, it is only fair that the public be privy to all information provided in response to their concerns. We have done this in the past for other major projects where public concern was registered such as the Claxton Bay Port application.”

Point four of the note states while an instruction to prepare a CEC was received, several details regarding the scope and design of the project “remain outstanding.”

The technical review team wrote that it believed a second RAR and not a CEC should be issued to allow for a better understanding of the receiving environment for the project (the Aripo Savanna), as well as the potential range and magnitude of impacts.

“The placement of conditions such as requests for baseline information is contrary to the principles of good environmental impact assessment. We should be mindful that this project is in proximity to a designated Environmentally Sensitive Area, which is inhabited by at least one environmentally-sensitive species. It is my technical opinion that the precautionary principle be applied in the consideration of this project,” it further read.

It was noted that it is highly irregular and unprecedented to issue a determination for a CEC application, for which there are significant outstanding concerns to be addressed based on the requirements of a TOR (Terms of Reference) that was issued for the conduct of an EIA in support of the application.

According to the Privy Council ruling, the EMA issued a CEC for the highway on June 22, 2017, subject to a long list of conditions, including requirements to submit a revised EIA, undertake several studies and submit for approval of an Environmental Management Plan.

A copy of the CEC was placed on the national register on July 3, 2017.

On August 17, 2017, according to the Privy Council ruling, a revised version of the EIA was submitted. Page 7, between October and November baseline reports on various matters outlined by the conditions, were submitted and approved.

In its ruling, the Privy Council noted that the EMA’s MD Mr Romano testified that, “There is no third EIA. Condition 1.1 of the General Terms and Conditions of the CEC required the Interested Party to submit a corrected and comprehensive version of the EIA reflecting all adjustments/additions made as a result of the review and assessment process, such report to integrate the updated version of all reports submitted in support of the application for the CEC. In compliance with this condition, NIDCO submitted the finalised EIA to the EMA on 17 August 2017.”

The Privy Council said no reason was put forward to doubt the accuracy of Romano’s statement, adding that the power to impose conditions on a CEC is in terms unlimited.

It ruled that there was no reason why the CEC could not include an updated EIA.

Grande residents say project causing flooding to worsen

Sangre Grande business owners and several residents from areas east of the Eastern Main Road–like Roopsingh Street, Ramdass Street, Neeranjan Street, and Savi Street–believe that the ongoing project is worsening flooding in Sangre Grande.

 A well-known businessman from the area–who withheld his identity–and Chairman of the Eastern Business and Merchants Association Ricardo Mohammed spoke to the Sunday Guardian.

“Being born and raised in Grande, I have never seen this amount of flooding, with small amounts of rainfall. Grande has always been considered the water basin of the East. The occasional times we get heavy downpours rivers flood out. We know certain areas that will flood. Areas of Picton Road, Coalmine, Tamana, Oropouche,” Mohammed said.

“We are now seeing flooding in Sangre Grande that is lasting more than 48 to 72 hours, and it’s not just the type of flooding we’ve been seeing, new areas in Sangre Grande are being flooded. Now, we are seeing a lot of silt material that is very similar to quarry-type industry material coming into the main rivers.”

According to Mohammed, who was also the former president of the Sangre Grande Chamber of Commerce, when the area experienced the dreaded floods of 2018, the usual, low-lying areas were flooded.

The businessman, who did not want to be named, said, “This area has never in history flooded like this. This affects a large part of Sangre Grande. This is literally a highway to hell in Sangre Grande.

“I sat on two consultations for this highway and I told them, no, you are making a mistake. Do not interfere with the Aripo Savannas. It’s a forest reserve…People who live around the area in Cumuto said allyuh don’t know what you all doing.”

He said during consultations, environmental NGOs operating in the area warned NIDCO that the Aripo Savannas holds as much as eight feet of water, and its ability to hold water could be impacted by the highway project.

“On all accounts, it appeared to be a travesty, a waste of money and I don’t imagine why they would do that.

“The answer came and it’s really horrible. I knew from the minute that the flood started. I said this is the highway flooding us. I knew because I’ve been here 25 years on this property…I have no doubt that this water is from the Aripo Savannas, starting to drain this way now. There’s the Aripo River that this water would flow into and so instead of heading west, the water started heading east,” the businessman lamented.

From aerial footage seen of the project, one can see drains, full of murky, silted water, draining from the highway into what appears to be a retention pond and small watercourses nearby.

Making things worse in the area, they said, a contractor who recently acquired a piece of property along the Guaico River and Eastern Main Road, constructed a river tunnel that narrowed the water channel.

Carlene, who lives along the Eastern Main Road, near the Guaico river, said in her 33 years of living in the area, she has never seen flooding as she did four weeks ago.

“The force of the water pushed down my gate and my fence. It did and never in history have we had this. If flooding would occur, the height of the water would be at most two feet, but this time, it was more than that,” she said.

On Thursday, the Sunday Guardian also visited the property of a man who lives a few hundred meters away from the end of the completed part of the project, near Guaico.

He said there used to be a relatively small amount of water that would pool in the acres of land behind his home, but now there’s significantly more water.

“Since they cut down the trees, it’s a lot more water. It usually isn’t so bad. Now, it is like a sea. It has to be that more water is coming into the three rivers in the area because of the project. Before they cut down the trees, you never used to see no big set of water and thing, but since they cut it down, you get more volume,” he claimed.

No response from Sinanan

On Monday an email was sent to the communications department of the Ministry of Works and Transport, seeking an update on the project.

On Friday, calls to Sinanan’s phone went unanswered.

We left a voice message and WhatsApp messages asking him to call.

In the messages, we also asked him to respond to allegations by some businessmen and residents that the ongoing highway project had worsened flooding in areas east of the Eastern Main Road in Sangre Grande; to claims by Dr Furlong that the project does not make much sense developmentally; and we asked him how much has been spent on the project thus far, and what is the estimated timeline for completion.

Up to late Friday evening, Sinanan had not answered these questions.

Source: https://www.cnc3.co.tt/unease-by-grande ... extension/

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