Water woes in East Trinidad

The lack of water caused frustration, especially for residents in Arima who were busy trying to find their Member of Parliament and Minister of Public Utilities, Pennelope Beckles. Over the weekend, Arima residents sought out every possible water source, with dozens bathing and filling up buckets at WASA’s booster stations.

The customer service representatives were inundated with calls from frustrated residents trying to get an explanation for the lack of supply. They were advising customers to make a request for a truck-borne water supply.

WASA stated that the reason for the disruption was the shutting down of the Hollis Waterworks because of the heavy rains over the last week. It said the rains caused the lake to become murky, and the water could not be treated for distribution. The water was turned off last Wednesday morning.

However, callers to Newsday were not satisfied with the explanation, saying that the utility should have systems in place to deal with rainy conditions.

One irate caller questioned, "This is the rainy season, so if rain continues unabated for the rest of the year, will WASA not be able to provide pipeborne water?"

Newsday understands that there were several landslides close to the Hollis Waterworks which hindered work from taking place earlier. The situation was further hampered by persistent rains in the East.

Yesterday morning, a customer service representative was assuring affected residents that the plant was back in operation, and most of the affected areas, from Arima to Five Rivers, would have their pipeborne supply restored by yesterday evening. She noted that some residents may have received a supply at midnight on Saturday.

However, because of the dirty quality, the supply was shut off again on Sunday.

As a result of the water shortage, a number of schools were forced to remain closed last Friday or were dismissed early. Among the schools affected were the Malabar RC, Arima West Government and Arima Senior Comprehensive.

Among the affected areas were Olton Road, Arima Old Road, Cleaver Road, El Carmen Street, Malabar Phase Two, Lynton Gardens, La Resource, La Florissante, Mausica Road, Boys Lane, Bon Air Gardens, Bon Air West and Golden Grove Road.