SANTA CRUZ CLEANS UP

The residents of Jaggan Village are now pleading to anyone that could render assistance. Residents said that an estimated$1.7 million in damages was incurred.

Emily Sookraj, one of the villagers, told Newsday about how her entire world came crashing down on the heads of her family when a landslide claimed her home and two others on Saturday.

Sookraj said at about 12.30 pm on Saturday, heavy rain began falling in their village. The rain was so heavy that water slowly began seeping into their home on top a hill in the village. Two hours later, her house, which was fortified with steel beams and concrete gave way to tonnes of mud and silt, which slipped from the side of the mountain, into her home.

“I was in the kitchen when it happened,” Sookraj said. “All I heard was rumbling, and when I looked back, everything came down on us.” Mud, sand silt and sediment from the mountainside broke through the back wall of Sookraj’s home, along with two other families, and flooded its interior. Sookraj said, her youngest child, 31-yearold Suzanne Gomez was sleeping in her bedroom at the back of the house when the landslide came down. Newsday was told that the landslide pushed Gomez out of her bedroom, through a wall and into another room where she was almost buried under the mud and silt along with concrete from the wall.

Sookraj said that her daughter managed to climb through a crack in the wall at the far end of the house. She was later taken to hospital where she was treated for a damaged ligament in her foot.

Residents yesterday told Newsday that they have been working around the clock, trying to clear mud and sediment out of the damaged houses. Friends, relatives and neighbours in the village chipped in to conduct repairs to the damaged homes. Newsday was also told that MP of St Ann’s East Nyan Gatsby Dolly went to see the damage and promised the villagers that they would be supplied with mattresses and other items, however up to press time yesterday, the villagers complained that they hadn’t gotten the mattresses. Villagers were also promised a monthly grant of $2,500, so that they could find other lodgings. Villagers told Newsday that it may not be enough for the people who lost their homes to get back on their feet.

“Right now we need somewhere to sleep,” said one villager. “We cannot sleep here and we cannot live here. It is totally uninhabitable. The hill could come down on our heads at the slightest bit of rain. Yes, we were given a grant, but we still have to find a place to rent for that money, and after the three months we would have to fend for ourselves. If we are not able to pay the rent what will happen to us? We are not rich people. We cannot pay rent. Even if we get units to rent-to-own that would be better than what they are giving us now.” Minister of Works Rohan Sinanan was yesterday overseeing clean-up work in the aftermath of Saturday’s heavy rainfall. He told Newsday that up to 11.30 on Saturday night, the Ministry of Works were conducting clean-up exercises in areas like Haleland Park. He said that the reaction time for flooding in several areas were cut in half because equipment was placed in strategic positions were available to clean up in the aftermath of the flooding. Sinanan said that the flooding which was experienced in several parts of Northern Trinidad, including Port of Spain, was not a result of poor infrastructure, but because of the amount of rain that fell in a short period of time.

“There was nothing we could do about it save for cleaning up after,” Sinanan said. “The amount of rain that fell in a matter of hours was so much that the water courses could not take it.” He added that along with the amount of rain, the time it falls is also a factor. The two occasions that rain fell in Port of Spain causing flooding, it fell at the height of high tide causing water to rush to the vcapital.

Over 200 rivers under maintenance my ministry of works.

Sinanan suggested that run off traps be placed at several rivers to catch water during rainy reason then slowly allow the water to run off.