The Ministry of Works and Transport opened the El Socorro North Access roads Monday with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar delivering a feature address in which she described the infrastructure project as one of the key development areas for her government.
The opening of the new facility coincided with the removal of the El Socorro traffic lights, which means that all traffic lights have now been removed from that stretch of highway.
Traffic entering the highway from the Uriah Butler junction near Grand Bazaar will now be able to get as far the market on the Beetham highway without having to stop at traffic lights.
The Prime Minister said, "The upgrade of road infrastructure and by extension, the national transport system, is viewed as very critical to successful realisation of a nation’s development potential."
She noted that in implementing the upgrade of road infrastructure, the Government is showing its commitment to ensuring that the transport system does three things:
- meets the basic access and equity needs of citizens
- offers, choice, convenience and support economic activity
- is safe, resilient and capable of being continued with minimal long term effect on the environment
Persad-Bissessar said the completed works will significantly reduce congestion along the Churchill Roosevelt Highway while improving accessibility to regions north and south of the highways.
"In so doing there will be in my respectful view tremendous positive impact on the national economy through reduced travel time, reduced vehicle operating cost and reduced negative impact on the national workforce.
"The success of this project also underscores my government’s view that infrastructure is the basis for developing human capital, indigenous capacity and expanding the national skills base."
She said the project allowed local professionals in the public sector to design and manage a project in keeping with international standards and practises. In addition the project used innovative procurement practises that produced competition and transparency while still delivering economic project costs.
She also praised local contractors for "consistently producing timely cost effective, quality products."
She added, "So as we continue to transform our national network, we are also transforming our human resource – in the public sector as well as the private sector."
Persad-Bissessar said the continuing transformation of the road network will be nationally based and not subject to the pettiness of partisan politics.
She said works will be undertaken in each of the 41 constituencies and will focus on extensive, simultaneous distribution of projects along critical links of the road network.
"You will also witness that this continued transformation will occur not just now but throughout the next four years...not only in an election year. We believe that national development rather than vote generation will always be our modus operandi," she said.
The Prime Minister also had a suggestion for mixing beauty and utility to create an inviting environment in the highway network.
"When I was in Brazil I saw in the middle of the highway...they planted mango trees. It divided the median, mango trees as far as I can see," she recalled and suggested that "perhaps we can plant here mango trees, fruit trees so that we can also get food and beauty at the same time."
Persad-Bissessar thanked Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner and junior works minister Stacey Roopnarine for "the tremendous job they do in the Ministry of Works together."
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