Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen has called out the “rural neglect” of communities, as she led a flood mitigation tour through the Mayaro/Rio Claro region.
Speaking to TTT News, Minister Ameen said there has been a long-standing failure to invest in rural infrastructure.
“We still have a lot of neglect in terms of watercourses, bridges, landslips, roads in the rural area and so, funding is something that we have to be very careful with to choose our priorities in terms of how far the funds can be. But today, we are continuing to give empowerment to all our Corporation employees. It is quarter to five and Regional Corporation employees are still on the job today at the Mayaro Regional Corporation and they started since very early this morning.”
Minister Ameen surveyed tributaries of the Ortoire River Basin, noting that it has not been cleared in years.
“I remember Mafeking Village getting tremendous flooding and the Corporation responding, people were waist height with water. This channel here in Bristol takes out some of that water. This is one of the tributaries. And there are several other watercourses like this where the Regional Corporation will be doing flood mitigation work. The Member of Parliament has reached out with that interest because he is keen on seeing these watercourses cleared. So he has also requested additional support for the Mayaro Regional Corporation.”
In Princes Town, Minister Ameen said a collapsing road threatens to cut off access to a school.
“We started at the Regional Corporation. I met with the technical officers to go through some details of their flood mitigation, to engage with them on what additional support they need. We then went out for a site visit where we had equipment clearing watercourses, a major watercourse in that area. Dr. Aiyna Ali, who is the MP for Princes Town, made a request for me to visit an area in Robert Village North Road, where there is a school, Robert Village Hindu School, and hundreds of children could lose access to their school based on that collapsing of that road.”