Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 08/Aug 08:51

Too little, too late

THE EDITOR: Like so many others, Kalisa Danclair should never have died like that. In fact, her terrible demise is a direct consequence of the attitude of the former government to rural (read country, swamp, alligators and the like) roads and urban or "town roads." It was Rohan Sinanan who liked to boast and gallery that "up to 70 per cent of the roads in TT were up to mark" when it was the other way around. In fact, in areas like Barrackpore and Penal, Matelot and Toco, or the bypass road between Arima and Blanchisseuse, it's the other way around. These roads are so bad they flip tractors and trailers, much less cars. So you will never find proper lighting, warnings and guard rails in roads and bridges in areas that don't traditionally support the PNM, like it or not. In fact, it must be stated: if the PNM had found a way to open the million-dollar bridge that ran parallel to the trace that Danclair was driving on and had some kind of safety for motorists, she might be alive today. Now the regional corporation is running with a welder – as though that will bring Danclair back; it's too late. Why does it have to take a death for authorities to do something? We have seen this so many times: people burning in their homes and the fire brigade (where there is one) leaving far-away areas and taking hours to respond, and when it arrives it's just charred structures and smoked people. It seems no authority, whether PNM or UNC, NTA or what, has any respect, care and concern for life. Maybe it's time that roads which traverse rivers are somehow secured better and residents in the areas trained in emergency response. Maybe its time to be doomsday-prepared and put a life preserver which can bust a glass on these bridges. Dear God, we have to do something. LINDA CAPILDEO St James The post Too little, too late appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.