Angry residents of La Brea, Santa Flora and Erin/Palo Seco formed a human barricade and blocked off access to the south-western peninsula, yesterday, as they staged a fiery protest for water. Several roads in Santa Flora, including Waddle Village, Jacob Settlement, Dalley Village, Bennette Village, Agapito Trace, Number 9 Palo Seco and SS Erin Road, were impassable. Residents dragged derelict vehicles, barrels, empty water tanks and slabs of wood across the streets and set them on fire. Scores of students attending Santa Flora Anglican, Palo Seco Government Secondary, Beach Camp Community School, St Brigid's RC and Siparia Secondary Schools were unable to get to classes. Lifeguards on their way to Los Iros beach were also caught up in the long line of traffic, which stretched along the SS Erin Road.
By mid-morning, the protest also spread to Sobo Village in La Brea, miles away. A fire appliance took hours to get through the crowds to extinguish the flames at the various locations. At Bennette Village, one resident–Keston Vincent–threw himself on the road and refused to allow the police to pass. Vincent said they had not received water for more than six weeks. Karelene Forbes, of Waddle Village, said more than 15,000 people in the area were affected by the water problem. "We have to pay for water; some of us cannot afford. We need water in the taps now."
Pensioner Clara Roberts begged WASA to send water in the lines. Beating her walking stick on the ground, Roberts shouted: "Since before Christmas we waiting for water in the line, and we can't see a drop." The residents said early last year, they had a water schedule from 11 am to 6 am. However, within recent months, they started to receive water from 2 am to 5 am. MP for La Brea, Fitzgerald Jeffrey, met with the demonstrators yesterday and promised relief. He said he would make representation to the WASA authorities to ensure that water was distributed.
?WASA responds:
?In a news release yesterday, WASA said it had taken the decision, with immediate, effect to appoint Allan Poon King, general manager (operations) to head the management of the utility's business operations in south Trinidad. "Mr Poon King will be directly responsible for spearheading the development of the Authority's plan of action, to improve the reliability of the water supply to customers in south Trinidad, the statement said. The authority's general manager corporate communication Ellen Lewis also assured customers that all efforts were being made to minimise the impact of the supply shortfall.
She said "We acknowledge that the standard of service is not at an acceptablelevel in the communities that have publicly expressed dissatisfaction. Accordingly, the authority is currently seeking to bring about reliability in the service by ensuring the existing schedules are met. Areas such as Debe, Sobo Village and Los Bajos are on schedule for a pipeborne water supply. That supply was expected late yesterday. WASA said it also apologised to customers for the interruption, and until the supply had been normalised, customers who needed truck-borne water could call 800-4420/4426.