16 October, 2009

Beetham Gardens residents protest





“…residents setting alight anything they could drag on to the roadway.”
“…massive pile-up along the highway as two of the three lanes of the highway, near the beginning of the Beetham berm, were impassable.”

“…caused commuters in Port of Spain and at the City Gate hub to spend longer periods on maxi-taxi and taxi stands waiting for transport to take them to their eastern and southern homes.
At one stage, residents also threw rocks, pieces of bricks and debris at passing vehicles on both transit sides of their homes.”

Re-read that last line. 


Ostensibly, the cause of this disturbance was a controversial police shootout with four men, linked by police to a murder earlier on that evening. Police killed two men during the shooting.

The residents of Beetham Estate can block the three main arteries (Eastern Main Road, Priority Bus Route and Beetham Highway) out of/in to Port of Spain, our capital city. This is cause for concern, as tens of thousands are potentially affected by this action. If they can sustain this action over several days, then, in theory, much of the nation’s productivity will be brought to a halt.

The police response was swift and decisive this time. Maybe the cameras on the Beetham Highway helped provide timely intelligence. 

2 comments:

  1. ...i hope yer in the rural area Brother,at least it'll bide ya time...if not,get out of the city...

    ...when the $hit gets serious,minutes matter...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ken,
    I'm nowhere near the capital city, so that action has not affected me. I see green mountains when I look out my window.

    You're right that "minutes matter" when things get sticky. Thanks again for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete

 
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