Heavy rains on Saturday left residents of some 60 homes along Corial Road, Williamsville marooned when several parts on the main access roads collapsed.
Residents complained that for more than 30 years they have been surviving on less than the basic amenities that most other communities have been afforded.
They said they inherited the problems from their parents and grandparents and their only hope is the so far unfulfilled promises by the Government.
Resident Ramsumair Mamunan said he had been a cane farmer for more than 30 years and that was the only business he knew. He said after the cane fields were abolished he continued to plant a vegetable garden to support his family.
Mamunan said: “We are silent protesters, we trying to do the right thing. All we want is to get basic things in this area. We want for them to fix the road, more street lights and pipe-borne water. Is that too much to ask?
“People are losing business in the area. It is hard for me to go to the garden, because the tractor and vans are sticking in the mud. The access roads are breaking away, they caving in.”
Mamunan said the gardeners have to carry all their produce from the garden on their backs and head.
And the landslips have gotten so bad that their houses are beginning to crack and crumble. Three businesses have been forced to close down — Radica’s Mini Mart, Gopaul’s Mini Mart and Ramesh Baboolal’s Smee Machine Shop.
Another villager, Lenny Hanuman, said his home is being affected by one of the major land- slides along the road. He said Corial Road is the major access road that serves more than 300 people and as a short cut to Garth Road, Princes Town and Williamsville when it floods.
Hanuman said: “We don’t have to block the road to be heard. The walls will do it for us.”
The villagers said taxis have jacked up their fares from $5 to $25 to drop inside Corial Road and Corial Branch Road and school children are being affected the most by the devastation.
They said they made several attempts to speak to Member of Parliament Nizam Baksh but to no avail.
Source:TEN
