THE OPPOSITION says it has exhausted almost all efforts to press the government to take the country's "collapsing infrastructure" seriously, and may seek relief and answers for citizens through the courts.

Tabaquite, Mayaro, and other areas are "completely losing access" to the rest of the country, United National Congress (UNC) MP for Tabaquite Anita Haynes said during the opposition's midweek briefing on Wednesday.

Haynes and Mayaro MP Rushton Paray lambasted the government, saying they had to address mounting infrastructural issues at the briefing, instead of matters they would normally focus on as shadow ministers.

Paray said they would "consider legal recourse unless the government provides a plausible account to the people" for substantial loans it had obtained for infrastructural development.

He said Works Minister Rohan Sinanan and Minister of Finance Colm Imbert had not told the nation that over the past seven years their government had signed several agreements, amounting to over $9 billion,with CAF (Development Bank of Latin America) for infrastructural development.Paray wants evidence from Imbert that the funds were used for that purpose, something he said the opposition has called for in and out of Parliament for several months, including during the budget debate.

He also called on CAF to take an interest in this "sensitive financial matter" and insist on "detailed and public accountability."

Haynes rebuked the government for the state of disrepair of communities in her constituency.

Its main goal, she said, was "to provide basic goods and services like roadworks. It's a public good. It belongs in the hands of the executive."

She referred to a newspaper article published in July in which Sinanan responded to private citizens who offered to fix potholes in their areas. Sinanan said the public may buy materials and fill potholes, but must apply for permission to do so, and his ministry would provide technical guidance, once approved.

Haynes said this reflected the government's evasion of basic responsibilities, "telling you as citizens, as taxpayers, who would have already paid your money into the system, (to pay) again and do the work that they are supposed to do.

She said in the past seven years, the administration had "successfully lowered the bar to below the ground." People no longer expect the Works Ministry to work, she said.

"Citizens no longer expect that anything will be done for things like a pothole or major roadworks. Instead, you have to wait until the entire area is collapsing, falling apart, before you get some attention. Note I said 'attention' and not 'work.'"

Haynes said she started a campaign – #FixOurRoadsTabaquite – in 2020, during the pandemic, to get information by virtual means so she could" adequately use my parliamentary platform" to represent her constituents' problems. It highlighted poor road conditions, land movement, dilapidated and collapsed bridges, poor drainage, lack of access to pipeborne water and other infrastructural problems, she said.