Two weeks after eight-year-old Melissa Nandlal contracted dengue fever, angry residents from Prime Minster Kamla Persad-Bissessar's Siparia constituency staged a fiery protest yesterday. Their complaints ranged from leaking water lines, poor roads, clogged drains and raw sewage at Lowkie Trace, Lowkie Trace Extension and Station Ten Road in Penal. For the past three months, residents said water has been gushing from a leaking WASA main at Lowkie Trace Extension, triggering land erosion and causing damage to the road and a bridge. Treasurer of Station Ten Village Council Ann St Clair said they were fed up of the neglect. "That water line is like a strainer...For three months now we are reporting it and nobody has come to fix it," St Clair lamented.
She said garbage trucks no longer worked at Lowkie Trace Extension because of the road conditions. "We have no choice but to put out garbage here, but now the trucks are not coming here any more," St Clair lamented. She explained that more than 400 residents live in the area and many were frustrated that the People's Partnership had failed to deliver. A trek through the village revealed huge potholes, some almost as wide as the road. Heaps of garbage were piled on the side of Lowkie Trace, Extension. The roadside drains were clogged leaving pools of black stagnating water. Puddles of raw sewage also flowed down hill at Lowkie Trace Extension, leaving the front of Lutchmidath Gangadhar's home in a stink. Gangadhar said: "This place like a cesspit. Look at the filth. There is no drainage here and when rain falls, we get flooding. We don't even have street lights."
Romina Sylvester said children were falling ill because of the deplorable conditions. Radha Nandlal, whose eight-year-old daughter Melissa contracted dengue fever, said it was time for the Government to act. She said her child spent two weeks out of school after contracting the virus. Councillor for the area Shanti Boodram and Oropouche West MP Stacy Roopnarine met with residents yesterday and promised relief. Roopnarine said the protest was uncalled for because the Penal Debe Regional Corporation had already initiated moves to fix the roads. She said a bridge at Quinam Road was being fixed and traffic was diverted onto Lowkie Trace. Roopnarine said they already dropped material at the site to patch the road. She said she was willing to meet with the residents to discuss the issues, but did not suppport their choice to undertake protests. Local Government Minster Chandresh Sharma also met with the residents yesterday and promised relief.