A specialised vehicle aimed at enhancing the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government’s emergency response was unveiled on Thursday.
The three-tonne capacity vehicle, delivered by Ansa Motors, will aid in enhancing national emergency response capacity, ensuring faster and safer deployment of vital resources to communities in need.
Sales Executive at Ansa Motors Commercial, Vinod Mangray, highlighted the performance and durability of the vehicle.
“This truck has a carry capacity of three tonnes and can also transport seven persons, including the driver, to any job site, which makes it very high on performance and durable.”
Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen emphasised that capacity building is the Ministry’s top priority, especially when faced with disasters such as floods.
“This is a vehicle designed to carry heavy equipment but specifically to allow us to carry boats when we have rescue situations. Now, because we know the situation in terms of finance, it’s important for us to continue to build capacity, and we have secured a donation of eight boats that will help in our rescue efforts. While our objective is to reduce flooding, our flood mitigation will continue in every part of Trinidad, but our capacity to respond in times of disaster is also very important.”
Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, Peter Mitchell, added that the truck joins other vehicles assigned to rescue missions. He said a proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Finance for the 2026 budget for the consideration of improvements in the Emergency Operations cCentre.
“We began with back hoe, we have a dump truck, now we have this truck that will transport the rescue boats, and this is part of our fleet upgrade for the DMU Head Office operations here. Furthermore, we hope that in the 2026 budget – we’ve made our submissions already – that the Ministry of Finance will take into consideration that we need to improve not only our mechanical aspect of DMU but also our technology aspect of DMU by upgrading the Emergency Operations Centre as well.”
The Ministry hopes that this addition will allow for better coordination with other disaster management units and bring relief to citizens in a timely manner.