So, wid all de talk dat talkin' and de money dat runnin' on roadworks an' new bus, is how soon allyuh feel dey go call elections? If it wasn' fuh elections I feel nuttin' woulda never get done in dis place oui...but I glad dat even fuh de wrong reason de 'right' ting gettin' done.

Is why we does have to in a hurry an' patchup instead of takin' we time an' doin' de ting properly? Is only when we properly plan tings dat dey go wuk dey way dey suppose to an' ent go have to get patchup all de time. It gettin' nearly impossible to get anywhere widout a bicycle is fus it have car an' truck all over de place...I cyant believe dat PCD nearly done, it seem like is jes de odder day dey was startin' PBZ!

An' is like almost every vehicle only have one or two people in it, de onliest exceptions is de taxis...why it is people doh carpool I want to know, it should be easy wid plenty people wukkin' at most two-three blocks away from each odder, but once Trini have a car, dey does forget how to walk an' so what if it mean dey takin' half hour more to get to de office, dey have more time to read de papers, eat dey breakfasses an' jes generally macco what goin' on as dey crawl dong de road in dey very own car.

I was talkin' wid mih macomere de odder day 'bout de same traffic problems, an' she godchile who was visitin' she from England did hear we an' raise some interestin' points. He say de way Trinidad goin' right now wid traffic ent dat far off how London uses to be before dey introduce congestion tax an' clear up de place...basically what dey did do is declare a big chunk of de busiest piece of central London a Congestion Charging Zone an' say dat if yuh want to drive yuh car or park on de streets in de zone it go cost yuh. Dey did start off in 2003 chargin' £5 a day (7:00am to 6:00pm, but it did rise to £8 in 2005), an' by law ALL de surplus after expenses HAVE to go into de London transport infrastructure includin' more buses an' more routes, road safety measures, better walking facilities, safer routes to schools, better cycling facilities an' measures to improve goods vehicles’ deliveries. Dey say dat it raise over £90 million in 2004/2005 alone an' congestion drop by nearly 30% since it start, an' dey expectin' even more in de future as dey jes extend de zone in February dis year.

Now, I know my people an' is no matter how good a example we get we bong to mus' mess tings up, but oh gorm at least we could look at dis kinda ting before we start peltin' umpteen millions behind railway systems. I did see mih bwoy Raffique talkin' up de way de bus service runnin' dese days in he column, an' he also talk 'bout a nex idea dat dey does use in London - Bus Lanes. Instead of all de maxi an' dem cuttin' in an' outta de traffic on de shoulder, why not make a bus lane on de highways dat only bus an' maxi could drive in jes like on de Priority...it go mean less jam in de resta lanes.

Of course none of did ent go wuk if we cyant get de buses runnin' properly ALL de time...I ent know how much bus PTSC really have, accordin' to dey website is somewhere in de region of 200 or so, but is how many actually serviceable is anybody guess. I ent no traffic plannin' guru, but if dey have 200 bus I feel dey actually need to have 400 or 500 to wuk it right.
How come we doh have Toll Roads? If dey collect a toll fuh usin' yuh car instead of a bus or maxi on de highways, an' put de monies back into maintainin' de roads it bong to mus' make tings easier fuh all who HAVE to use dey car instead of public transport.

An' lewwe not forget 'bout a airport shuttle service from not only POS, San Fernando, Arima, Chaguanas an' Scarborough, but also Sangre Grande an' Princes Town an' Rio Claro...in fact every place in T&T suppose to have a bus service dat could feed into de big stations an' back to anywhere else.
Is why dey doh utilise de maxis fuh dis? It make no sense to try an' regulate dem outta business, so why not wuk wid dem? Give dem trainin' an' show dem dat if dey make travellin' in dey vehicles safe, comfortable an' reliable, de public go respond an' dey go only benefit.

Allyuh in T&T take care on de roads...enjoy yuh Labour Day activities an' remember yuh Tants lookin' out fuh yuh nex' week.
 

BACKCHAT: Issue 24

Just wanted to comment on what you said about Patos' Palace - that you don't have a problem with it. I have a problem with it. How does that represent our pride as a people more than using some of that money to help the people who desperately need it in this country. We are too rich to have children who go live on the streets, or have to go without food, and entire families living in galvanize shacks, without even the basic necessities. It was unnecessary, and to me is only gluttony and waste.

If we want to talk about image, I think a visitor to our country would be far more impressed with seeing a less-than palatial abode for our PM but funding being directed to care for our elderly, upgrading the state of our hospitals to a state that is usable to humans, focus on our schools and education system instead of what we have now that is breeding the next generation of criminals, preservation of the natural resources of our country. It's disgusting. HE is disgusting.
//Trinidad