You barely notice the small, wooden houses hidden among thick vegetation on either side of the narrow, broken road. Or the people carefully picking their way down steps of mud cut into the steep slopes. This is Dunderhill, an obscure squatting village at the foothills of the Northern Range (adjacent to Lopinot) referred to by the local population as "The Hole." Here, just ten minutes from developed Arouca, the population of about 100 live in almost primitive poverty with no electricity or pipe borne water and seems as forgotten as their village. A shallow tributary of the Lopinot River actually crosses the road, which has no bridge, at the beginning of the squatting settlement and residents are cut off when heavy rain falls and there is flooding.
Aside from that, villagers are thankful for the clear rivers which flow in other parts of the village, providing, apart from rain, the only source of water for them. As dusk creeps over Dunderhill, pitchoil lamps are lit, throwing a cosy light into the huts which are soon to be enveloped by thick darkness outside. The four children of Rawle Ogaro, an estate constable, do their homework by lamplight. Before day breaks, men, women and schoolchildren are forced to trek some three miles through the forested road to get transportation to their schools and places of work. Most of them do not own cars and taxis do not cross the river. Some residents work in construction when they get a job, but are mostly unemployed.
RIGHT: Elizabeth Chadee picks her way down mud steps in front her house.
Those like Marlon Ross, cultivate a small kitchen garden, growing enough food to put on the table. Despite their challenges, Dunderhill villagers, as if humbled by their lot in life, are peaceful and friendly and not a hostile face was found when the Sunday Guardian visited the area last Monday. "Country in town," was how Rudolph Garraway, one of the more fortunate Dunderhill residents, cheerfully put it.
Waiting for help
Dunderhill squatters say they are waiting on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. It was Persad-Bissessar who, a couple of years ago, got a court injunction to stop the PNM government from demolishing their houses, they said. (Persad-Bissessar's Siparia office could not trace the injunction, however, but promised to look into it.) "It have people living here since the 1980s," a villager, who asked not to be identified, said. "I came and met people here." She said residents were hoping that development will come at last to Dunderhill under the People's Partnership Government. The area falls into Bon Air West/Lopinot which was won by Dr Lincoln Douglas, Minister in the Ministry of Social Development.
"We get change finally. Nothing ain't done yet, but they (the Government) still have to take a little time to settle in. "We're hoping things will flare up nicely. I think they will fulfill their promises," the resident said. Garraway, a former Telecommunications Service of T&T engineer, rears goat, sheep and ducks and cultivates long term crops like avocados on his five-acre property in Dunderhill. He inherited the land and left Arima because he "loves the bush," he said. "I living here ten, 12 years. I wouldn't exchange it for the world." The lack of water and electricity has made his work very challenging, however.
LEFT: A typical house in Dunderhill. Photos: Jennifer Watson
"The Water & Sewerage Authority (WASA) actually did a project here some years aback and was supposed to install a pump," Garraway said.
"But, to date, nothing." Garraway uses rainwater and fulls a 400-gallon tank from a pipe one and half miles down the road and brings it home in the back of his pick up. He spends a small fortune, too, on electricity. "I have a diesel generator and it costs me $30 a day. And that's really cutting down on how we use it.
"We put on the generator in the day only if the kids want to use the computer (one son is pursuing a degree in business). "But we normally put it on from 5 pm to about 9, 10 pm." Garraway and other villagers are hoping that things will improve in Dunderhill.
MP: I made a commitment to residents
Lopinot/Bon Air West MP, Dr Lincoln Douglas, said in his last visit to Dunderhill, he made a commitment to residents to fix the river. "I already submitted a request to the Works Ministry." Douglas promised to get an update on the regularisation status of Dunderhill.
Concerns
"We have a lot concerns," the village spokesman said. The road was a major problem. "We need a bridge over the river. When rain comes it floods waist high and you can go out or come in. "A couple years ago the flood bring down a man in his vehicle and it crashed into the river." Children, like Antonio Richards, 11, who attend the D'Abadie Government Primary School, and others who attend the Five Rivers Composite in Arouca, have to stay at home when it floods badly. The road, broken in many places, does not make things easier. "They (the last administration) come and do a jokey pitch some time ago. By the time the rain come down all the pitch was down so," the resident said.