The Highway Re-route Movement (HRM) is blaming Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for its leader Dr Wayne Kublalsingh’s life being under threat.
Kublalsingh started his second hunger strike in protest of the segment 27 days ago. He was rushed to St Clair Medical Centre for emergency treatment yesterday after he suffered a heat stroke and lost consciousness at Maracas beach.
At a candlelight vigil held yesterday, HRM member Shereen Boodhai said the situation was the PM’s fault.
Boodhai said the PM failed to live up to a promise that the controversial Debe to Mon Desir segment of the $7.3 billion Solomon Hochoy Highway extension project from San Fernando to Point Fortin would be halted pending determination of environmental concerns.
The promise, she said, was made to the HRM during a meeting at the Parliament building, Waterfront Centre on March 16, 2012.
The HRM and its leader are insisting that the Government hold mediation talks to arrive at the best agreement for the nation.
Close to 1,000 citizens assembled at Nelson Mandela Park, Port of Spain for the vigil, which was held in support of HRM’s calls for mediation.
Kublalsingh and the HRM have repeatedly said the segment would be harmful to the environment as it was being constructed through a lagoon.
At yesterday’s vigil the crowd shouted “yes to mediation.”
Movement for Social Justice David Abdulah told the vigil that some 30 civil organisations have signed a letter to the Prime Minister demanding that there be mediation on the matter.
He said the group proposed that Government consider the Highway Review Committee report and reccommendations on the controversial segment. The committee, which was chaired by former Independent Senator James Armstrong, proposed mediation and the halting of further work on the highway section.
Masman Peter Minshall also spoke at the vigil.
Among those gathered were Roman Catholic priest Clyde Harvey, Anglican priest Knolly Clarke, banker Richard Young, Merle Hodge, panman Ray Holman, and Sheila Dookeran, wife of Foreign Affairs minister Winston Dookeran.
Clarke in his address said for the law to be truly applied, there must be justice.
At the vigil, it was agreed that forty supporters will begin a 40-day fast in support of the ailing Kublalsingh. Each is to fast for a day.
The crowd later walked from the park to the nearby hospital, where relatives of Kublalsingh were able to see them from his ward.
Relatives told the Guardian that Kublalsingh wanted to return to the pavement on St Clair Avenue to continue his hunger strike.