No hope for Caparo

THE EDITOR: The seemingly unending flooding misery of the village of Caparo is now compounded by its very residents stout refusal of Government’s much touted multi-million dollar proposals to effect rehabilitation and relief in the construction of a retaining water dam. Recent meetings between high-level government officials and residents have been less than engaging and have so far engendered more discord and acrimony as Government’s plans are incrementally unveiled. In another five months or so, the media will again be featuring provocative and incisive coverage to the all too familiar, perennial woes of the Caparo residents.

In the interim though, and given now the comparative brevity of the dry season, Caparo seems already, destined to its characteristic and ritual sufferings for at lest another year. Proposed construction of this dam, while ultimately yielding much sought relief, has also attached to it the possible creation of a diversity of job opportunities in alternative agricultural undertakings, but more principally, aquatics. Conversely, however, this project stands to disrupt the lives of scores of families within the Caparo basin whose livelihoods have historically been in a variety of agricultural pursuits, in particular sugar cane farming.

The current rapid demise of the sugar cane industry though, near extinction of the cocoa, coffee and rice fields in Caparo basin and the absence of sustained farming of any kind in the area, lend appropriately to the vision for a retaining dam given the acuteness of the flooding problem. Definition of the dam’s boundaries from Mamoral in the east to Palmiste in the west; all inclusive logistical considerations and a diligent study in applied hydraulics, intricate and detailed as warranted, do have phenomenally attached costs — both financial and in sentiment.
Vehemently exposed emotions therefore, regarding dislocation of the interred at the Mamoral Cemetery to facilitate construction of the dam are indeed, thought-provoking.

Cumulatively, though, these views lack due substance and plausibility in light of the enormity and longevity of those problems common to affected villagers. Additionally, Caparo is not the only village in this central area affected by pervasive flooding. The Caparo Alley is however, the watershed of much of the rainfall which accumulates from villages further east, namely: Brasso, Brasso Venado, Flanagin Town, Brasso Piedra, Mamoral Crossing, Mamoral No 1 and Mamoral No 2. The villages of Todd’s Road, Palmiste, Ravine Sable, Longdenville, Montrose, Chaguanas, Edinburgh, Chase Village and Charlieville are all indirectly affected as a result of widespread flooding birthed in the Caparo basin.

Flooding problems in Caparo are therefore not merely an insulated Caparo issue as its residents understandably, make it to be. The Caparo Valley Brasso Road, impassable to residents of Caparo and adjoining villages in heavy flooding is also inaccessible to commuters from as far as Rio Claro and Tabaquite. Dissenting views and further contention on the construction of the dam must now be tempered by consideration for the larger flooding problems, the long term flood relief efforts initiated by Government and the resultant benefits to be derived. This, notwithstanding decades of devastation and impassioned, unanswered pleas that have made residents of Caparo all but inured to this abominable, seasonal occurrence.

No government yet has come as close to providing tangible solutions to this vexing recurrent problem. Residents of Caparo have every reason now to be more hopeful, if not, more supportive of this venture than at anytime before. Voices of objectivity, common sense, reason and understanding all beg for conciliation and meaningful engagement among stakeholders, in the hope that perennially cheap, petty politics will not now prevent what appears to be realistically achievable.

JAHMADAR CASSIE
Port-of-Spain