JENSEN LA VENDE
Senior Reporter
jensen.lavende@guardian.co.tt
Residents of Olton Road, Arima, say worsening water shortages over the past year have forced them to carry water from other communities, install tanks and pumps, and scale back their household routines and businesses. They are calling on the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) to urgently address the problem.
Some residents believe the shortage amounts to political victimisation, saying the supply has deteriorated since the general election. Guardian Media visited the area yesterday and spoke with residents who described an increasingly unreliable schedule.
Darren Flaveny said that for the past two weeks he has had to fill five-gallon bottles each day and carry them from his family’s home in Santa Cruz.
“We never had this issue before. We’ve never had this before, so clearly, it appears to me that it’s some kind of victimisation,” he said.
Flaveny said water reached the street on Saturday night, but he and some of his neighbours did not receive any.
A resident who asked not to be identified said the community previously had a regular three-day supply schedule each week. Now, he said, water is available for only a few hours on one day each week. He said the change began shortly after the general election.
Roger Hernandez, who has lived on Olton Road for more than 50 years, said he had never needed tanks or pumps because the supply had once been steady. He has now been forced to install both.
“First time I’ve seen this in my life. I don’t know if [it’s] a spiteful thing or something, because nobody wants to answer questions. They say to call them (WASA), but when you do, they are saying, ‘It is a different system now,’” he said.
The shortage has also affected local businesses. A car wash operator, who asked not to be identified, said the irregular supply had disrupted his work and made it difficult to plan.
He said residents sometimes had to wait hours for their tanks to fill, and some were unable to store enough water, forcing them to seek supplies outside the community.
“The water does come, probably about 12 o’clock, but within that time I just have to wait outside here till four o’clock, sometimes five o’clock, to fill water,” he said.
The late waits sometimes leave him too tired to open his business at 8 am, he added.
“We survive without washing clothes sometimes. Sacrifices does have to make,” he said.
The complaints come a day after residents in parts of Morvant raised similar concerns about prolonged disruptions, saying the unreliable supply had made it difficult to manage basic household needs.
Guardian Media contacted Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath for comment. Up to press time, he had not responded.
