Warner determined to fix roads and bridges, plans to set up Roads Authority

Jack Warner on Tuesday dismissed talk about whether Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissesssar has demoted him by splitting his ministry and talked about his responsibility as a cabinet minister.

The Works and Infrastructure minister was speaking at an event to mark the start of a $4.3 million Road Restoration Project in Vistabella in the San Fernando West constituency of Public Administration Minister Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan.

Warner told reporters according to the new schedule following the cabinet realignment his portfolio puts him in charge of roads and bridges, the Coastal Erosion and the Programme for Upgrading Road Efficiency (PURE). 

He said that means his job is to fix roads across the country. And he has a plan.

He said one of the problems he has encountered in trying to get infrastructure fixed is multiple jurisdictions that block progress. 

"I tell you today that I intend, since all the roads and bridges are coming from the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, that we shall have to establish a Roads Authority that brings all the roads and bridges under one Authority," the minister said.

And he had a message for reporters and others who are making a big issue over the change in his ministry.

"My concern is about delivery. When I go to people's constituencies and see bad roads and bad drains and so on, I wish I had the money or time or energy to fix it for them right away. 

"I am not concerned about the cosmetology and the glamour. I had 16 Boards and now I have 2, so what? It does not bother me," he said.

The prime concern for him, he said, is whether he would have the funds needed to get the work done.

"It is left to be seen whether I will get the money to do the things I want to do because you could have a Ministry of Works and Infrastructure with no money and then you will still be dead right? 

"So the important thing is the get the money and I don't see why I should not. I am the perennial optimist," Warner declared.

"I have come to deliver, and I will do that to the best of my ability as never before, and I will tell you something. Whether it is the Ministry of Works or Works and Infrastructure, I shall be the best one you will ever see. And that is not boasting," he said.