Attorney General Anand Ramlogan has raised questions about the sincerity of some supporters of hunger-striker Wayne Kublalsingh about their concerns when the mangrove was cleared to make way for MovieTowne, Westmoorings and Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.
Speaking at the Oropouche West constituency Divali celebrations on Tuesday night, Ramlogan said he noticed people from Bayshore and Westmoorings protesting against the segment of the highway at Debe to Mon Desir outside the St Clair Medical Centre on Sunday as Kublalsingh was being treated. He said: “Wrightson Road area was mangrove and swamp. Is it that we should never have developed Wrightson Road in Port-of-Spain and build no roads in and around those areas.
“When MovieTowne was swamp and mangrove and they had to reclaim the land, no one in Debe or Westmoorings, no one in Port-of-Spain protested the cutting down of the hills so we could have Bayshore and MovieTowne. “No one spoke of the degradation of the environment because they understood the need for human progress.
“Our history teaches us that without some sacrifice there will be no human progress and development,” Ramlogan said, pointing out to objections during the construction of the Solomon Hochoy Highway which split the Caroni Swamp in two. “Did the Caroni Swamp die? No it is larger and better off than it was before,” he added.
Using the story of the Ramayana to underscore his point, Ramlogan said those who sought to block progress must understand the message of the Ramayana that those who sought to thwart the ambition of Lord Ram failed on the altar of prayer. He added: “Those who ask that I must bypass the court system and say that I must enter into any form of mediation, I ask the question:
“If you have lost your court matter against the State and you have been denied an injunction, not once, not twice, but three times, I must now ignore the court’s rulings, bypass the rule of law and engage in a discussion designed to produce one result and one result only, which is to give you that which the court said you are not entitled to in accordance with the laws of T&T.”
Ramlogan said to do that would be setting a precedent that every person who lost a case before the court could go on a hunger strike to get the desired outcome. He said the government would not only build the highway to Point Fortin but the highway to Diego Martin as well as the overpass in Valencia because it was a promise it made to the people who voted for it and it had a duty to fulfill that promise.