Water leakage at St Francois Girl’s College

WASA Corporate Communications Manager Daniel Plenty told Newsday yesterday that WASA was aware of the problem and was taking steps to address the leakage.

Two WASA trucks and a crew of eight were on the scene yesterday morning. A crew member told this newspapers that the crew was waiting on instructions from the engineer to tell them what to do.

Residents in the area who preferred anonymity said that they have made several complaints to WASA about the leakage that was eroding the school’s driveway and also affecting the foundation of the walls of a nearby house.

They said that on several occasions WASA crews have visited the site. “They will come. They will look. They will dig up a bit and then leave,” she said. A resident told Newsday that at least five houses are affected by the water which began as a small stream but has now grown into a ravine into which some of the water flows before it gets to the underground drain. One resident said that she contacted the office of the Chief Executive Officer on several occasions and assurances were given that the matter would be rectified. As recent as two weeks ago, the resident said that she wrote to the Chairman of WASA board of directors and got no reply. She said that she has also written to WASA’s legal counsel and received no response either. “No one has responded or even acknowledged that they receive my letters,” she said. Over the Christmas holidays, she said that St Francois Valley Road was without pipe-borne water for three days, but the water was flowing freely from the leak.

“Some of the water is running over in people’s yards,” she said and drivers have to slow down on approaching the area. “It was already happening in the dry season.

Now it is worse with the wet season,” she said.