The Caura Valley Village Council, with the support of the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation, came up with a ‘Plan B’ to ensure the Caura Royal Road is not a hazard to the hundreds of commuters venturing to the area on a daily basis.
On Sunday, the Village Council and volunteers launched a clean-up initiative aimed at improving road safety and revitalising the area’s natural beauty for residents as well as visitors enjoying the area for recreation and other community activities.
President of the Caura Valley Village Council, Mario Ahing, emphasised the nature of the project.
“The Village Council, in conjunction with the residents, would have identified several hazards along the Caura Royal Road. We initiated this programme to sort of enhance road safety for commuters travelling in and out of Caura. This is just one phase of a complete project. We are removing some vegetation that is causing blind spots around corners, also we are removing some overhangs that are affecting the PTSC bus.”
Councillor for Caura/Paradise/Tacarigua, Prakash Barath, joined the effort, praising the community’s dedication.
“It’s a tourist area. Some of the areas need some attention. I have brought to Council, on numerous occasions, the need to put a special programme in place in this time where we don’t have CEPEP, we don’t have the afforestation programme taking place in URP, that they can quickly put another Plan B in place to assist these areas.”
He said infrastructure improvements are also on the agenda, and he is advocating for better road maintenance.
“If you come to Caura, you’ll have thousands of people in Pool 1, you know. So we need toilet facilities, we need parking, we need security, we need proper roads. I have asked Council to ensure that the road here is properly patched and so, and maintained. We’re trying to do the best, you know, resources are limited. The government is under, now seeing, ensuring that, you know, where the money is until the new budget comes out.”
Mr. Ahing stressed that this is a purely community-based effort to ensure the area remains up to standard.
“We would like to get the entire Valley. So it’s going to be going on a weekly basis, you know. On the weekends when we have free time, the residents would come out and we would assist each other, you know, to get this completed.”
Mr. Barath also gave the assurance that several landslips in the area are being prioritised.
“I personally have come up here with the landslips. I’ve asked Council to deal with these landslips. Unfortunately, it is so big that we’ll have to do it through the Ministry of Works and I’m sure in the new budget allocation, we will see some of those projects materialising.”