I am a strong sponsor for the decentralisation of government ministries out of Port of Spain. The immense pile-up of standstill traffic is growing out of control on a daily basis, as a lot of people refuse to car-pool or use public transportation.

Now, their choice of transport is up to them, but something needs to be done to reduce the traffic congestion in the capital city.

The growing number of vehicles on the roads is mainly because Port of Spain is the main central business district in the country.

There are scores of private businesses and ministries in the capital city and we have an influx of people from all over Trinidad, on a day-to-day basis, making their way to work. This near-500,000 or more people entering and exiting Port of Spain is the reason for the traffic congestion in the city.

Have we considered the economic impact on the city due to this?

Congestion is already affecting businesses and upsetting their competitiveness. Countless businesses have already made schedule changes to avoid peak afternoon traffic conditions. However, businesses have expressed a budding concern that the relatively few portholes of time when congestion is not a problem are dwindling.

As a businessman, I can personally list some problems my business is currently facing due to the impact of traffic congestion in Port of Spain:

• Costs for additional drivers and trucks due to longer travel times;

• Costly "rescue drivers" to avoid missed deliveries due to unexpected delays;

• Loss of productivity due to missed deliveries and late arrivals by workers;

• Shift changes to allow earlier production cut-off;

• Reduced market areas;

• Increased inventories;

• Costs for additional crews and decentralised operations to serve the same market area.

I think the Government has made a very viable proposal in decentralising some of the ministries out of Port of Spain. It is bound to have a desirable effect on the economy and I endorse and look forward to this development.

M Bernard

Diego Martin