The Rural Development Company, in collaboration with the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government, is set to begin rehabilitation work on a major landslip at Charuma Junction Trace in Mayaro.
Speaking during a site visit on Saturday, MP for Mayaro Nicholas Morris said the project forms part of a wider effort to address infrastructure challenges across the constituency.
“I think it was two months into my tenure, it collapsed. And Minister Ameen, from the very start, was on the board of the RDC. And today, they will be visiting the Charuma Junction landslip because right now, the RDC is engaged in the process to have it rehabilitated.”
He said requests for support have also been submitted for Kernaham, Cedargrove, Tabaquite Road, Navet, Biche, Cunapo Southern Main Road, Guayaguayare, Rio Claro and several other communities facing infrastructure challenges, which are threatening homes and road access.
“Ecclesville is the capital of landslips. It is a capital of landslips. It is in a deplorable state because of 10 years of neglect. But in Minister Ameen’s very first year, she has sat in her Ministry, pulled the forces together.”
Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, Khadijah Ameen, noted that projects are being prioritised.
“Because there are instances where we have roads so bad that only one vehicle could pass, and you have a school in that road that has 300 children. And then you have others that may have five residents. How do we choose? So as part of that analysis, the Rural Development Company’s engineering team has been working with us.”
She said Government remains committed to ensuring rural communities are not overlooked.
“We are here in the Rio Claro area. We are going to Ecclesville and other areas in Mayaro and this is rural Trinidad and Tobago. And while a lot of development is focused on urbanised areas and areas that are fast developing, our rural communities must not be neglected.”
MP Morris reiterated that this was an election campaign promise made to rural communities.
“It was a commitment on the campaign trail that once we got into office we would begin to look at addressing the number of landslips in this Ecclesville community and I am very very grateful to you Minister that within the first 18 months of office with scarce resources, we are here today.”
He said projects such as these demonstrate that the people of the Mayaro Constituency are key to the national development agenda.