Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo criticized the Public Works Ministry, labeling it as “delinquent” due to its slow resolution of issues concerning encumbrance in public spaces and thoroughfares.
During a press conference on Thursday, the Vice President addressed the recent removal of multiple vendors and structures from the Georgetown Seawall, an operation led by the ministry. The vendors were ousted either for obstructing traffic or constructing permanent fixtures along the sea defense, an area designated for emergency clearance.
The question many of these vendors posed was: Why didn’t the Public Works ministry object to these structures earlier?
According to Jagdeo, the question is a valid one which exposes the ministry as “delinquent”.
“The Ministry of Public Works has been delinquent. I’ve spoken to them a million times. Delinquent when this happens,” the VP lamented.
He provided a hypothetical where a man, without permission, erects a sign at the side of the highway, which not only blocks the throughfare, but “changes the aesthetics”. He said that the Ministry would see the sign going up but would wait weeks later to inform the individual of the illegality.
This slothfulness, the VP said, leads to unwanted confrontation between citizens and the authorities.
“We said to them (Ministry) a million times and the president has said this to them: ensure that you police the highways so that people don’t do this…Look at the main highway, the four-lane high Heroes Highway. We said we’re not going to allow people to build from their houses, access onto the highway. I came down last night from the show at the stadium and I see people already building access onto the highway and Public Works will not take action until it’s done,” the VP said.
The former president also underscored the responsibility of citizens to also do the right thing. He lamented the indiscriminate cutting down of trees by residents and contractors along the highway and the abandoning of promotional paraphernalia on utility poles.
“People have to change too, but Public Works needs to ensure that this happens. When people advertise these shows, the dirty cardboards are left there for days after and they don’t go and remove it. They put these little dirty signs on all of the lantern posts and everywhere. And then they don’t go and remove them. But if you take tough action and charge people for defacing the property then it’s another issue. If we want to change our country people also have to change,” the Vice-President said.
