Kublalsingh ends hunger strike

Environmentalist Wayne Kublalsingh on Wednesday decided to end his hunger strike.

Kublalsingh, 53, is the leader of the Highway Reroute Movement (HRM). He has been staging a daily protest outside the office of the prime minister for three weeks, refusing to eat or drink anything. Doctors have said his life is in great danger.

The group wants government to abandon work on a section of the highway to Point Fortin. Last week Kublalsingh met with the Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) which later submitted a proposal to the Prime Minister outlining a proposal for the highway.

On Monday the JCC met with Works Minister Emmanuel George and agreed on a plan which both sides signed. It called for:

1. NIDCO to provide all documentation on the Debe to Mondesir section of the Highway
2. JCC to examine all the documentation and to provide a report within sixty days to NIDCO for consideration and, for the JCC to publish the report
3. Work on the highway to continue on lands released to the contractor

Speaking at a political meeting Monday night the PM called on Kublalsingh to end his protest. "I again empathise with the HRM and Dr.Kublasingh and ask him to reconsider his position in the light of the JCC and government meeting. I cannot let a few people determine what is good for 300 000 people," she said.

On Tuesday Kublalsingh suggested he might be willing to end the hunger strike and outlined conditions for doing so. He stated what the HRM wants:

1. No construction work should begin on the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Highway, including the interchanges, while the committee meets
2. The terms of reference must include a cost-benefit analysis report, a social-impact assessment report and a hydrology report
3. The terms of reference should include the provision that oral and written submissions be made to the committee by members of the HRM as well as other members of the Debe to Mon Desir communities.

At 6:30, Kublalsingh ended his protest.