La Brea is a town in southwestern

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, located northeast of

Point Fortin Point Fortin, officially the Republic Borough of Point Fortin, the smallest Borough in Trinidad and Tobago is located in southwestern Trinidad, about southwest of San Fernando, in the historic county of Saint Patrick. After the discovery of ...

and southwest of San Fernando. La Brea (Spanish for "the tar" or "the pitch") is best known as the site of the Pitch Lake, a natural

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

lake.

Location

La Brea health district is situated in the mid-western peninsula. It is bounded by the

Gulf of Paria The Gulf of Paria ( ; ) is a shallow ( at its deepest) semi-enclosed inland sea located between the island of Trinidad and the east coast of Venezuela. It separates the two countries by as little as at its narrowest and at its widest points. T ...

on the west, Mondesir Road and part of National Mining on the north, by Fowl Play Bridge Aripero village on the south and by Union Village on the east. The villages included within these boundaries are: Union, Vessigny, Chinese Village, Aripero, Sobo, Rousillac village, Vance River and La Brea.

Size and population

It is approximately in size and has a population of about 18,000.

Climate

There are two main seasons: the dry season from January to May and the rainy season from May to December.

Topography

La Brea is famous for its natural wonder of the world, "The Pitch Lake", which is actually the largest of three in existence. It is located on an area of depression in the landscape; with some pools, reeds and grayish

everywhere. The asphalt is so soft in some areas that an individual can slowly sink if he/she stands on the surface too long. In some places one can put a stick through the asphalt and remove liquid tar. During the rainy season, the pools collect water, which becomes sulfurous due to the gases that are being released through the asphalt layers. These pools of water become breeding places for ''

Aedes aegypti ''Aedes aegypti'' ( or from Greek 'hateful' and from Latin, meaning 'of Egypt'), sometimes called the Egyptian mosquito, dengue mosquito or yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that spreads diseases like dengue fever, yellow fever, malar ...

'' (yellow fever mosquito) and other

mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

es, thereby creating a health risk for workers of Lake Asphalt Company and tourists as well as the local villagers.

Transportation

Roads in the district have to be constantly repaired, which usually takes a long time. Road users are inconvenienced by the condition of the roads and commuters have to pay very high fares. The means of transportation are:

maxi taxi Maxi taxis are private, owner-operated minibuses in Transport in Romania, Romania and Transport in Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago that are used in public transport. They operate along fixed routes, having fixed fares and meeting points, ...

s, P-cars, taxis and buses. Residents who have their own transport claim that vehicles are very costly to maintain because of frequent repairs as a result of the condition of the roads. After 7 pm transport becomes very difficult to obtain.

Industry and economy

In La Brea the main and largest industry is the Lake Asphalt Company. Small-scale farming and fishing are other sources of income. However, many residents work outside the community either in the neighboring towns of

and San Fernando or even further. Proposals for the construction of a

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zin ...

plant in the area have been the subject of protests due to the harmful effects such an industry may pose for residents. Like much of southwestern Trinidad, La Brea has declined since the end of the oil boom in the early 1980s. The closure of the ''Trintoc'' (now Petrotrin) camp at Brighton was a major blow to the economy of the town. Attempts were made to lure heavy industry to the ''Labidco'' (La Brea Industrial Development Company) Industrial Estate in the early 1990s, but the

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

instability of the area made the area unsuitable. More recent attempts to attract medium and light industry have been more successful. In particular, the La Brea Industrial Estate, and its accompanying natural deep-water harbour at

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, were developed by NGC (National Gas Company)/NEC as an alternative industrial site to

Point Lisas Point Lisas is a major industrial centre in Trinidad and Tobago and is host to the ''Point Lisas Industrial Estate'' and the ''Port of Point Lisas'', both of which are managed by Plipdeco (the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Company). Po ...

. At present, La Brea offers dock and deep draught harbour facilities, site and utilities for land-based industries,

bioremediation Bioremediation broadly refers to any process wherein a biological system (typically bacteria, microalgae, fungi in mycoremediation, and plants in phytoremediation), living or dead, is employed for removing environmental pollutants from air, wate ...

and offshore logistical support.

Local amenities

The main recreational and relaxation facilities are Vessigny beach resort, "Carat shed" beach, Station beach, Pitch Lake Brighton sports ground and the sports ground located in Sobo The only available health resources are Petrotrin Lake Asphalt Medical Centre, which is a private enterprise for health care of workers and their immediate family. The other health facility is the La Brea Health Centre, which serves the entire community. La Brea is the location of the court house, revenue division,

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, market, abattoir, food court, drug store (in Rousillac), along with a few stores and an

internet café An Internet café, also known as a cybercafé, is a Coffeehouse, café (or a convenience store or a fully dedicated Internet access business) that provides the use of computers with high bandwidth Internet access on the payment of a fee. Usage ...

Government and politics

La Brea is part of the La Brea parliamentary constituency for elections to the

Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago is the legislative branch of Trinidad and Tobago. The Parliament is bicameral. Besides the President of Trinidad and Tobago, it is composed of the House of Representatives, which is composed of the Speake ...

References

{{coord, 10, 15, N, 61, 37, W, region:TT_type:city, display=title Populated places in Trinidad and Tobago