The Lady Young Road was reopened late last night, after crews worked tirelessly for hours to clear away debris left by yesterday’s landslide along the roadway.
Contacted just before 9 pm yesterday, Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan confirmed the road would be reopened shortly after crews washed down the minor dirt and rubble particles left after the major debris was removed. At the time, Sinanan was looking at that process.
Earlier, motorists had to endure hours of traffic gridlock after the landslide made the Lady Young Road impassable to vehicles.
As police directed motorists back in the directions from which they came, traffic backed up for miles around the Queen’s Park Savannah and other areas of Port-of-Spain. This situation was created as people unaware of what had occurred still tried to utilise the Lady Young Road via the Queen’s Park Savannah. It was the same on the other end of the landslide, where motorists had gone through Morvant seeking to get into either Belmont, St Ann’s or Port-of-Spain. This also created pile-ups on the other access routes out of and into Port-of-Spain, as it occurred just before the peak traffic period out of the capital.
The Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government declared the road impassable minutes after the landslide approximately half mile up from the Morvant Junction. The San Juan/Laventille Disaster Management Unit, Fire Service, T&T Electricity Commission and Police Service responded and worked in tandem to direct motorists away from the area and clear the debris.
Sinanan, who was on site to witness the damage earlier, eventually ordered the opening up of the Priority Bus Route to all vehicles and this helped bring some relief. The accommodation on the PBR was ended at 7 pm. The Belmont Valley Road and the Lady Young Road were also closed off to all vehicular traffic as crews worked to ensure the area was cleared and deemed safe again.
Sinanan said preliminary reports based on responding engineers suggest the land slipped because of the deterioration of the rocks and weight of the trees uphill. He, however, noted that he would not want to say more as he would await the final report from his experts, who were up to late last night assessing the area.
He said the ministry already has a plan with the Ministry of Agriculture to eliminate weighty trees.
“With this occurring, we will have to enhance that plan to ensure that before the rainy season comes in, to look at all trees before it comes down and look at the stabilisation of the slopes,” Sinanan said.
Sinanan said they were also looking closely at areas with similar issues, including Maracas and the Saddle Road in Santa Cruz. He thanked God that there were no fatalities and/or serious injury during yesterday’s landslide.
Former People’s National Movement MP Joanne Thomas escaped injury when her SUV was almost pushed over the side of the Lady Young Road during the landslide.