Central
closes
By Kim Boodram and Stephen Doobay
Trinidad Express
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
01 28 07
In some places, the only thing missing was tumbleweed
rolling across the street to complete the picture
of desolation.
True to their word, about 95 per
cent of the Central business community stayed closed
yesterday in support of Operation Shutdown.
Clothing stores, hardwares, restaurants
and even some street vendors withheld their services,
hoping to send a message to the relevant authorities
-get crime under control.
In Montrose, the streets were basically
empty- from the gas station on the corner to the
parlour down the street there was hardly any movement.
Only a handful of businesses were
open and these appeared to be in for a dull day.
There was a noticeable drop in the
number of taxis and maxi taxis operating the Southern
Main Road.
Only at the Port of Spain taxi stand
at Chaguanas was the tale different. While those
living in Chaguanas and working in "town"
were out as usual, things were dry the other way
around. By mid-morning the stand in Chaguanas was
almost empty but in Port of Spain, the stand was
overcrowded from a lack of passengers.
It stayed that way until evening
when "town"-based employees came back
out.
"I think a lot of people just
used this as an excuse for a long weekend,"
said one Chaguanas taxi driver who chose work as
usual. "It's not that I don't appreciate the
concept, I just don't see that it will make a difference
to these arrogant politicians."
The only gas station providing service
was the same station at which a patron's gas tank
exploded just over week ago.
In Couva the same scenario played
out. Only the banks and the Unit Trust Corporation
were open and very few people were to be seen.
The St Mary's taxi stand was bare
and only a few maxi taxis plied the route.
Trinidad
Express
Friday, January 26th 2007
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