Rapid Rail talks derailed
By LEISELLE MARAJ (NEWSDAY).
Attempts to hold a public consultation on the Rapid Rail project yesterday were rapidly derailed by angry residents of Central Trinidad who will be displaced if the proposed pathway of the train is accepted. It took two hours for the TriniTrain consortium to address concerns of the general public who attended what is the first of three consultations on the Rapid Rail project at City Hall, Port-of-Spain.
Executive of the consortium, made up of foreign engineering companies, Alstom Transport SA, Bouygues Travaux Publics SA and RATP Développement SA faced a barrage of complaints and accusations from the residents some of whom displayed placards.
UNC Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh and deputy leader of the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) Nyahuma Obika joined the protest at which accusations of corruption were levelled and also the fear that the National Infrastructure Development Company (NIDCO), which oversees the project, could become “another Udecott”.
TriniTrain Project Manager, Gilbert Salvi opened the consultation with some remarks but even before reaching the technical aspect of his presentation, on findings from a feasibility study which represents Phase One of the project, members of the audience began firing questions to members of the panel.
Obika said the consultations were an insult to the residents who will be most affected by the project. Gopeesingh focussed on allegations of corruption levelled against the UK operations of Alstom. He questioned the decision to grant the project to the consortium which Alstom is a party of, before Alstom attempts to clear its name of the corruption allegations in its Euro operations.
Salvi said while TriniTrain is preparing a statement on the Alstom matter, he assured that no member of the group was involved in any corrupt practice. “We are not corrupted. The procurement process which began in 2006 was an international one and it was quite clean,” he said.
Goopeesingh also attempted to clarify costs of the project which he said Works and Transport Minister, Colm Imbert, quoted in Parliament. He said Imbert converted costs in three currencies, TT$55 million, 16 million Euros and US$37.79 million which would mean an inaccurate conversion to TT dollars. Alstom’s RSG Manager, Jean Pierre Verguel said however these figures were accurate.
Salvi took the opportunity to apologise for the lack of communication between residents and the company since many pointed out that the first phase of the project, which includes all public consultations, is expected to end this month. He said while he could not speak for government, he was willing to go through the work done by the consortium so far. After making calls to cancel the project, persons in the audience indicated they were willing to sit and listen to the presentations at 7 pm — two hours after the 5 pm start time of the consultation.
