PHILIPSBURG:--- Several truck drivers gathered at the sandpit close to the Harbour Group of Companies on Sunday as they questioned the verbal work stop given to them by the Minister of VROMI Maurice Lake.
President of the United Unified Truckers Association Charles Hodge told SMN News that they were hired by DEVCON to remove the slush at the harbor and take it to the landfill so that the harbor could continue dredging the sand to complete the project they are currently working on. Hodge said some 20 trucks have been moving the slush for the past three days and taking it to the landfill where it is needed to compact the waste material there. He said on Sunday morning the Minister of VROMI Maurice Lake approached DEVCON and the truck drivers and he immediately halted the project claiming that the roads are being messed up and the Ministry of VROMI was not informed about the removal of sand or slush from the harbor. Hodge further explained that the United Unified Truckers Association hires a sweeper from Windward Roads every day to sweep and clean the road in case there are leaks while transporting the slush from the sandpit to the landfill.
When asked if he believes that there is some sort of lack of communication between the Harbor Group of Companies and the Ministry of VROMI, Hodge said it could be so but they have been waiting on the work for the past two months and they do not believe that DEVCON or the Harbor did not inform the Ministry of VROMI. Furthermore, they have been moving the slush for three days and only on the third day which happens to be a Sunday morning the Minister showed up himself and verbally stopped them from working. The President of the United Unified Truckers Association said they will give the Minister 24 hours to get matters straightened out before they take the necessary actions. When asked if the Minister gave them a written work stop, Hodge said that neither DEVCON nor the drivers received such a document. "We were told verbally by the Minister that we have to stop working and when we asked why he told us that the roads are dirty and his Ministry was not informed." Hodge further explained that Minister Lake claims that he is working in the interest of locals but so far he has been working against local businessmen.
Leroy La Paix, one of the truck drivers said it is clear that the Minister of VROMI is totally against locals that are working on various projects. He said Minister Lake stopped the FOGA project, the Little League Project and now this one that was given to DEVCON by the harbor.
SMN News made several phone calls to Minister Maurice Lake for a comment on the allegations made by the truck drivers but Minister Lake never answered the phone.