radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Living on the edge of a precipice in Princes Town is causing sleepless nights for Christianna Ramdeen and her family.
When you look out of her balcony you can see a giant precipice gnawing away at the road above, making it a single lane. Every time it rains, the dirt comes tumbling down.
“We just waiting every day for this house to fall. We living here for 31 years but we have nowhere at all to go. We beg we write, we call, we plead but nobody doing nothing. Whenever it rains I does be praying. I know it’s only a matter of time before it falls,” Ramdeen said.
This landslip is one of ten which are located along the St Julien Road in Princes Town. The six-kilometre road links Naparima/Mayaro Road to Sisters Road, Hardbargain in Williamsville and is traversed by over 1,200 residents.
For over a decade, residents have been begging for help to have the landslips fixed by the Ministry of Works.
But despite letters, petitions, and calls, their cries have gone unanswered.
On Wednesday, villagers came together and staged a protest, threatening to sue the Ministry of Works for neglect of their community.
President of the St Julien Road Village Council Jerry Singh accused the Ministry of Works of victimizing the residents.
“The villagers are very upset. We never burn a tyre or put a barrier before. We are peaceful people but now is water more than flour. It’s either we go and picket. We don’t care about curfew or pandemic! If we have to get lockup then so be it. Lock up all of us. Right now I have no car to drive, my shocks mash-up. We have taken enough and nobody is authority is doing anything,” he said.
A car cautiously drives along one of the landslides at St Julien Road, Princes Town, yesterday.
KRISTIAN DE SILVA
He added, “We not asking them to fix every landslip. We need small repairs on the road so it could be accessible, so taxis can come in.”
Singh said recently a resident died because an ambulance could not traverse the road to get to her home on time.
Two years ago, Singh said villagers organized $25,000 of their personal funds to fix the roads.
“We want proper maintenance done here. We also want the Ministry to check the quality of works that are being done,” Singh added.
Scrap iron dealer Bheem Ramkeessoon said the cost of vehicle repairs was too high.
“Every day my lil old van runs up and down this road. It takes me a lot of money to come out to fix the van. If the road was good, I would have saved an extra dollar. I have a wife and four kids. The road breaking away and people having real problems. What are you doing with our tax money? It’s time for us to show who we are because we are fed up,” Ramkeessoon said.
He said water lines were breaking.
“Anytime soon when rain fall the waterline will burst away and the whole of New Grant, St Marys will have no water,’ Ramkeessoon said.
Another resident Daltman Ragoonanan, 71, said his car was parked up.
“My two tyres burst. It is $600 for one tyre. I worked and live all my life in St Julien. I work taxi and I cannot run the taxi here anymore,” Ragoonanan said.
Nadera Arjoon said there are over 10 landslips on this road.
“We have been lobbying for the Ministry of Works for so many years. They keep saying yes they will look into the matter and they understand the distress but yet still nothing is done. We had no major works here since 2007,” Arjoon said.
Residents of St Julien Road, Princes Town protest the landslides in their area, yesterday.
KRISTIAN DE SILVA
She added, “We are not asking for special treatment. We want to be treated fairly,” she said.
The villagers say they are going to hire a battery of lawyers to file a case of discrimination and neglect in their community.
Contacted for comment, Works Minister Rohan Sinanan said the matter will be referred to the Highways Division and based on the available funding a proper technical evaluation will be done before the matter is addressed.
