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If T&T ever had a cause around which the whole country could come together, it’s the Highway Re-route Movement that is desperately trying to preserve the wetlands between Debe and Mon Desir by going around, instead of through, a swamp. Even the same government that is now apparently hell-bent on ramming the highway down the population’s throat is actually against the highway: it’s true. The Highway Re-route Movement was founded by Housing Minister Roodilal Moonilal, who, in 2005, became the chairman of the Highway Re-route Movement’s precursor, the Debe to San Francique Action Committee.
So the very same people who are today literally moving mountains to try to finish the highway as rapidly as possible, to frustrate the appeal process, were all adamant that it should never have been built in the first place: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Dr Tim Gopeesingh, Chandresh Sharma and Prakash Ramadhar all personally and professionally pledged to stop the highway.
Even Jack Warner, the man who took it upon himself to lead what was almost certainly an illegal police attack on the protest camp of the HRM on June 27, 2012 (far exceeding if not actually abusing the powers he then held as Minister of Works) now seems to be against the highway, if his visit of support to Wayne Kublalsingh, the man he once sneeringly accused of secretly cuffing down doubles during his first hunger strike, is anything to go by.
Perhaps unlike the open pit mining in Valencia, the destruction of the mangrove at Invaders Bay and the poisoning of watercourses with chickens--t, this particular environmental cause, perhaps like the prevention of the smelters, is as solid as a rock—and much more so than the hopelessly unsuitable swampland the Government is hurriedly trying to fill—with hundreds of thousands of truckloads, generating hundreds of millions of dollars for whoever owns the trucks; and perhaps others. Even if you’re the kind of Trinidadian who cares not one flying firetruck about the environment, the kind who proudly kills and curries the protected national bird, the scarlet ibis, and pronounces it “red duck” before he belches Johnny Walker Blue, the methodology of the construction of the Debe-to-Mon Desir section of the highway must give you pause. (Check out the excellent presentation of “The Great Highway Heist” by masman Peter Minshall, on YouTube (at ttp://youtu.be/i_VvRs380w0.)
To fill in the swampland on which the highway is to be built, a vast amount of truckloads of fill must be brought from elsewhere; and that “elsewhere” is the Northern Range: a mountain is being destroyed, with all the consequences of that, and trucked across the island in tiny bucketsful, at great and unnecessary expense, to fill in a swamp at the other end of the journey. A mountain, a swamp and the Treasury are being pillaged for this little bit of highway and this huge piece of national self-deceit and self-swindling; and the mountain and the swamp could be saved altogether, and the burden on the national pocket greatly reduced, just by doing what the Re-route Movement has been fighting for, on our behalf, for the last ten years: choosing a more sensible route.
The neo-slave society Trinidadian need for a larger-than-life hero around whom we can gather is also heroically filled by Wayne Kublalsingh, the most Christ-like figure Trinidadian public life has ever produced. Wayne Kublalsingh stands alone today amongst the opportunists playing themselves to pay themselves in public life; and, again like Christ, is very likely to die alone for his convictions; except it will take longer than 2,000 years for people in T&T to appreciate and acknowledge his sacrifice. Everyone bemoaning the loss of the T&T we knew and loved has, today, a chance to save it. There is amongst us one true Trini around whom the nation can and should rally; someone who cares more about the spirit of the place than his own time in it; stand with him, rather than with the opportunists in Parliament, who shamelessly double back on what they presented as their convictions, because they now presumably see a gain—by which I mean, of course, “an advantage”—in so doing.
If you truly think of yourself as a Trini, drop everything you’re doing and find your way right now to the pavement outside the Prime Minister’s office and stand in solidarity with the only genuine leader the country has at the moment. He doesn’t have to lead us to election victory, to economic recovery, to the leadership of the wider West Indian nation, to anything at all: he only has to lead us out of the darkness we’re in. And the good thing about near-total darkness is that it makes it impossible not to see the light.
Wayne Kublalsingh is a beacon to everyone who cares about the place and not their pocketbooks. Our hopelessly compromised and shameless government will be brought to its senses by only one thing: the massive show of public support for Wayne Kublalsingh and the integrity for which he stands. Don’t put yourself in the position of having to tell your grandchildren you did nothing to stop his crucifixion.
...and stand in solidarity with the only genuine leader the country has at the moment.
rspann wrote:rfari wrote:Indian Family affair ting. Always over land[/quote
Corrected.
Redman wrote:Again,
My position remains.....the Govt should confront and deal with all the issues raised in a public ,fair ,accurate and transparent manner.
At the end of that process we will know whether what the data supported real truth is....and we use that to inform the decisions on the hway.
It could stay right where it is...if that is the best route...
Citizens 4d hway....is a special interest group ....just like the HRM...their claims might be valid.
I say let's find out. Once and for all
rspann wrote:.....and you know this how?
Allergic2BunnyEars wrote:Twin Isle Cars n' Parts wrote:desifemlove wrote:jus saw news now...
is dat what she REALLY said?
naaaahh...i does tink some PNM or some anti-UNC twist ting dey....
This is what I mentioned b4...
The fool performs his "hunger strike" charade, playing he cares bout something-but doesn't...
If he dies, Global negativity for KPB, one set a Human Rights Bull arises (like when Ramesh put
down Dole & Joey dem-BIG MISTAKE), she loses election, PNM inside-POPULATION SUFFERS...!!!
I don't think you can quite say a person doesn't care if they die for what they say they believed in.
airuma wrote:I just looked at "Highway Reroute Movement - Optimum Connectivity Proposal - Sep 28 2014 " on you tube.
I have to say it seems as though these people do not live in Trinidad. They have proposed a useless piece of highway just to accommodate 1 connector road and upgrading of several main roads already existing.
Anyone in their right mind should examine the upgrades of the Churchill Roosevelt highway and why it was necessary to alleviate the terrible traffic experienced by those of us heading north on a daily basis. Even with a few intersections, the traffic was unbearable. Now we want the government of the day to use main roads with multiple branches to alleviate traffic and provide shorter commute times.
I live less than two minutes from the southern main road and about 15 minutes from the highway in Chaguanas but in the mornings, I actually head a little south and west of where I am going (St. Augustine) to access the Highway, rather than use the southern main road which is plagued with Maxi Taxis stopping every 200 meters.
This is why we should leave these things to the experts and not immature idiots like Mr. Hunger strikes back who can only see part of the picture especially when they are emotionally attached to a particular cause. To the best of my knowledge, he is just a part time English lecturer, not even an environmentalist, he's an environmental activist.
This is the price of progress!
Oh and I think Mr. Minshall forgot to add the part of video he must have recorded as proof where these hundreds of thousands of trucks are trekking from north to south to fill the lagoon. I am not saying it is not happening but surely if it is in such a large scale he could at least show some proof.
RBphoto wrote:Allyuh people could write long ting for people not to read.
AdamB wrote:Killing oneself is the irony of this whole situation because it is the preservation of life that these "environmental" activists fight for.
UML wrote:Allyuh eh realize how silent Rowley is on this matter? The ppl like Redman, Roget, dem political pastors, all opposition party supporters who calling for transparency and accountability eh know dat is under the PNM the contract was signed!!
De Dragon wrote:Matters not under which administration the highway was conceived, everyone is trying to spin this situation to their advantage.
They are now extending the Solomon Hochoy Highway from Golconda,
through Penal/Debe to Siparia and eventual
ly to Point Fortin
. They are going
through a company that is well connected to the
PNM
, Trintoplan Consultants.
They are going on the lands of farmer
s who already have their canes under
cultivation, trespassing, destroying crops
and doing surveys without permission or
authorization. In those areas in farming communities persons come out their
house in the morning and see all types of
strange characters in their backyard
indicating that they have come to pi
cket and survey the land, which is under
agricultural use. These are lands fo
r the cultivation of sugar cane.
They are now trespassing without comm
unication, informing the residents of
any dialogue. They did it in deep Sout
h and they are doing it in Oropouche. The
residents had to go to Orange Grove and
protest, a few days ago, at the head
office of Trintoplan because this Government will treat human beings as animals.
They will treat the people: farmers and re
sidents in Oropouche and elsewhere, as
if they are not human beings. Imagine
farmers would have their children going
out in the morning in the
garden and see strange peopl
e coming on the land with
all types of suits, indicating that they
are from Trintoplan. How would they know
that they are from Trintoplan? They c
ould be bandits, criminals, murderers and
kidnappers or friends of the
PNM.
This is the point I am making rela
ted to this amendment because the
amendment deals with the issue of distri
bution of land. They have not consulted
with the wider community on these proposal
s. We heard from the Minister that
there are proposals now for land use, but w
ho have they consulted with? If we
did not ask the question in Parliament the Mi
nister would not have told us. This is
the same approach they are using with
the extension of the highway. They will
not consult with the residents and communities. Let me end this point by saying
that the Government has a horrible recor
d, as it relates to consulting with commun
ities
and residents when they endeavour to do
any programmes and development plans.
We spoke about the land distribution
use and the absence of planning. The
Minister has responded. All we can
say at this point is that
it is our hope that this
Minister will cease parading up and down the country and putting colour ads in
478
Caroni (1975) Ltd. (No. 2) B
ill Monday, September 05, 2005
[DR. MOONILAL]
the newspapers and explain to the workers who are receiving these lands, what are
the processes downstream, what will happen down the road; whether they will be
abandoned on land without support or any t
ype of research and development and
which agency. It is very important, because
they have changed somewhat the shift
of the Estate Management Business
Development Company. Which agency will
be providing support to the Government?
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I thank you.
shogun wrote:^Have to admit when i heard that i thought that was a hell of a coincidence as well.AdamB wrote:Killing oneself is the irony of this whole situation because it is the preservation of life that these "environmental" activists fight for.
Can't believe i'm quoting AdamB. Liking that comment though.
The cost to construct one lane-mile of a typical 4-lane divided highway can range from $3.1 million to $9.1 million per lane-mile in rural areas depending on terrain type and $4.9 million to $19.5 million in urban areas depending on population size.
.Nonetheless, some states have developed cost models to guide planning for their highway construction programs. These models give a ballpark figure for various kinds of highway improvements. The following are some examples:
Construct a new 2-lane undivided road – about $2-$3 million per mile in rural areas, about $3-5 million in urban areas.
Construct a new 4-lane highway — $4-$6 million per mile in rural and suburban areas, $8-$10 million per mile in urban areas.
Construct a new 6-lane Interstate highway – about $7 million per mile in rural areas, $11 million or more per mile in urban areas.
Mill and resurface a 4-lane road – about $1.25 million per mile.
Expand an Interstate Highway from 4 lanes to 6 lanes – about $4 million per mile
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