This month is the anniversary of the completion of the Grand Castries Transportation Study; it will be 21 years since its completion in December 1993. One would therefore strongly suggest to the Ministries of Infrastructure and Economic Development to revisit the document and to see how the transportation model which projected traffic flow into 2013 performed and  to consider the transportation strategies that were proposed. The Grand Castries Transportation Study was initiated during my stint as Chief Engineer and remains the most comprehensive study done on our transportation system. The Report contained twenty seven (27) transportation options and strategies on the Gros Islet to Castries Corridor, Access to the south west of Castries, City centre traffic and parking, city centre land use proposals and suburban integration of the eastern communities. It is clear to me that there is a...

I entered the University of the West Indies – St Augustine in 1980 as a young 18 year old. 1980 was a very turbulent period in the history of Trinidad and Tobago with marches in the capital city almost a daily occurrence. The St Augustine Campus was not spared the turbulence and the coup in Grenada in 1979 and Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment had activated the then ‘I – Room’ as the crucible for debate on politics and economics. Despite my very conservative upbringing, the environment influenced my thought processes. I marched around campus, I joined a movement to stop the then PNM Government from continuing the building of a Race track that had swimming pools for horses. I also was impressed by a young lecturer named Raymond Charles, who sparked an interest in the field of Transportation Engineering. I recall using the blackboards of the Faculty of Engineering to vividly express my...

Several years ago I bought a book written by George F.L. Charles entitled – The History of the Labour Movement in St. Lucia 1945-1974. I have probably read this book over twenty times since the purchase, as it gives so much insight into life in St Lucia in that period but more so it provides a profound explanation of the socio-political machinations of our country. I can say that Sir George F.L. Charles was no ‘small axe’, he was a giant, whose efforts in  pushing for better working conditions and the end to political isolation of the masses must be forever hailed as gallant. It is unimaginable that a mere  seventy years ago, men were working for one shilling per day and women earned  10 ½ pence. The work period was a twelve hour day including Sundays. There were  no rights to overtime and children as young as 8 yrs were forced into the fields just to help their parents complete a...

The Government of St Lucia has pursued an extensive programme of bridge construction one that is unprecedented in the history of St. Lucia. The Minister of Infrastructure has rightfully determined that these bridges are part of the critical infrastructure of St Lucia and any disruption would have serious effect on the country. In my interface with the Minister, he has always readily admitted that he is not an engineer and always respects the view of his Technical Advisors. His role is the establishment of policy and the technical staff is to ensure that there is prudent use of funds in the execution of the policy. My view is that the Minister has pursued a very sound policy of moving the critical infrastructure we call bridges to a state of resilience. The loss of a bridge crossing can have a serious impact on the transportation network causing significant dislocation within...

There has been much discussion on the planned improvement to the Hewanorra Airport, and unfortunately the public has been forced to sift through the misinformation and rumours to collect a morsel of truth on this project. We all know that in the political crossfire between political parties statement of facts do not equate to the presentation of absolute truths. Undoubtedly, it is a clear example of how important timely information should be provided to the public. SLASPA as the executing agency has been attempting within the last two months to provide some clarity on the project. The most recent attempt was a full page advertisement in a local newspaper. Governments throughout the region must understand that there is a changing electorate. The Caribbean citizen is now exposed to the politics of the world, with the expectations of the same levels of transparency and accountability they...