rishard.khan@guardian.co.tt
Residents of Corosal Village, Whiteland, have joined the growing chorus of citizens calling for their roads to be repaired.
John Devett said the road is practically impassible with only 4x4 vehicles able to gain access when it is dry.
“For the past year and a half to two years, we have been pleading with authorities to deal with our road situation. The landslip has now taken over our road and therefore it’s very difficult to get in and out of our village,” he said.
He said a landslide along the road continues to collapse onto the road when rain falls.
“We, the villagers of Upper Corosal, have been spending money out of our pockets to hire backhoe to clear the road from time to time but at present our resources have been exhausted and we are asking for some help from the authorities,” Devett said.
He said just last week his daughter was unable to write an important exam at university because she was unable to traverse the roadway.
“When we, as the parents, uploaded the videos and all that, the university said no the exam could be done next year but we have to pay for it. So it’s costly on us again because I have to pay for that exam,” he said.
But while residents face issues with getting out of the village, Leanna Devett said the road is also preventing critical services from getting in.
“One of our major issues right now is collection of garbage. We haven’t had our garbage collected since last week Wednesday,” she said.
“Another issue here is we have no pipe borne water so we rely on truck borne supply. Since this road landslide and the landslips, we haven’t received any truck borne water and I don’t think we will be receiving any anytime soon if nothing is done to help alleviate that situation.”
She said residents are desperately hoping for some sort of relief before Christmas and certainly before school reopens in January.
“Because if this resumes like this, when school resumes, the roadway is going to be worse. I don’t know how I’m getting my kids out and back in,” she said.
She said they have reached out to the Member of Parliament and councillor among others for assistance.
