Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal yesterday denied claims that he paid supporters from his constituency to disrupt a meeting organised by the Highway Reroute Movement. The HRM came under fire from a group of Debe residents who called themselves the Highway Support Group when they tried to unveil a alternate route foro the Mon Desir to Debe segment of the $7.4 billion Solomon Hochoy highway extension.
In an interview at Funsplash water park on last night, Moonilal said he was not involved in organising protest action. “I am not involved in any way with any groups of people who are involved in protests. As a MP I have taken enormous courage to stay out of any protests activity. Constituents do their protests and give their views,” Moonilal said. He said activist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh was entitled to his views andthe people who are in support of the highway are also entitled to their views. “It is the height of hypocrisy for those who are against the highway to accuse people who are for the highway of having ulterior motives. They have their views like everybody else and if they want the highway, they have the right to express that opinion,” he said.
Asked about his views on the HRM’s proposal to use connector roads as a link to the new highway, Moonilal said: “We have already embarked on a programme to widen existing roads and create new arteries. In our constituency, we have opened up 14 new roads and widened six existing roads.” He government was keen to finish the Point Fortin highway “This will open up enormous economic opportunities for people,” he said. “I will not stop prosperity and developing new economic zones or business activity, nor will I prevent people form developing and prospering. Those people from, HRM are standing in the way of prosperity.”
Meanwhile, attorney general Anand Ramlogan said the HRM had been transformed into a political vehicle. “These distractions and diversions sound good in a vaccum, but contracts have been awarded after immense public consultation. The CEC was awarded so you cannot come up in the middle of multi-billion dollar project and say you have an idea on a vaps,” Ramlogan said.
“This is a clever way of negotiating some political space for people like David Abdulah, the PNM and all those who have jumped onto the HRM and converted it into a political bandwagon.”