Charge owners of heavy trucks for destroying the road, says Councillor

A call for annual charges to be levied against owners and operators of extra-heavy vehicles to pay for road repairs. The call comes from Dubraj Persad, the local government representative for Perseverance/Waterloo on the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC).

SHASTRI BOODAN

A call for annual charges to be levied against owners and operators of extra-heavy vehicles to pay for road repairs. The call comes from Dubraj Persad, the local government representative for Perseverance/Waterloo on the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC).  

At the time, Councillor Persad was speaking with Guardian Media while he inspected the installation of a bailey bridge at Roopsingh Road in Waterloo.

Councillor Persad said overloaded vehicles are destroying roads and their operators are getting away with it.  He said to make things worse, regional bodies cannot undertake repairs because resources are scarce.

Dubraj Persad, the local government representative for Perseverance/ Waterloo on the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation, at the scene of the newly installed bailey bridge at Roopsingh Road, Waterloo, on Friday 31 December 2021. (Image: SHASTRI BOODAN)

According to Councillor Persad, the bridge collapsed on December 17th after an overloaded truck crossed it.  He said not all roads in T&T were designed to carry such heavy loads and drivers sometimes use alternate roads. He said the end result is badly damaged roads. 

“In the CTTRC region, heavy trucks and extra heavy trucks traverse these roads, and when they damage these roads, we in the CTTRC have to repair our roads,” he said.

“It happens throughout the country. Who gets the blame?  The politicians, the regional bodies. I do hope the Government puts some policy in place so they could charge these contractors or these owners of this heavy equipment some annual fines—such as $5,000 or $10,000—according to the weight of their respective vehicles, to traverse the road in T&T,” the Councillor recommends.

The 50-foot long bailey bridge being installed at Roopsingh Road, Waterloo, on Friday 31 December 2021. (Image: SHASTRI BOODAN)

“At the end of the day, the heavy vehicles are destroying the roads.  Some roads are not equipped to handle the weight. Some drivers ignore the weight restrictions for these roads,” he added.

Councillor Persad said the bridge should be operational by Tuesday 4 January 2022.  He said the area is used by hundreds of motorists traveling from Couva to Chaguanas in a bid to escape traffic along the Southern Main Road and the highway.