Residents of Princes Street Lodge were out in their numbers yesterday morning to decry the horrible conditions of drains in the area to Works Minister Robeson Benn.
On a visit to “areas in the city which flood easily”, Benn along with an engineer listened to the frustrated residents as they expressed the need for the drains to be cleaned. Residents in the Lodge area have been susceptible to flooding for the past week and they are blaming the poorly maintained drains.
“Is high time somebody pay attention people children getting sick,” John Peters, a long time resident of Princes Street said. Peters told the minister that it has been over 15 years since any machinery came into the community and properly cleaned the drains.
It was an overcast drizzly day when residents slowly emerged from their houses to speak to the minister and collect the long boots (wellingtons), mathematics books and gloves that were being shared from the minister’s vehicle. “I feel good for the lil contribution, because when the water get between ya toe it does break out,” said one resident as she clutched her boots under her arm.
But while residents were grateful for the handouts, many of them still wanted definite answers on what would be done to ease their situation.
Peters told the minister that he has to be bailing water out of his home to which several other residents agreed.
Yesterday in the community, water from the drains covered some residents’ bridges and flowed into their yards. The trench bordering the cemetery was overgrown with tall grass and small trees all along its length.
Mosquito and
sickness
Many residents are contending that the overflowing overgrown drains which are flooding their homes and yards were responsible for their children’s diarrhoea and vomiting. Perters said that it was only last week that his seven children took ill. Two of them are still suffering, he said.
“People at the health clinic and the hospital say it’s because of the water that the children sick,” Peters added.
Annette Garnett, another long time resident of Princes Street said her grandchildren had the same symptoms. “My grandchildren get a lot of rash and bouts of diarrhoea and fever,” she said.
“If you does see me foot condition and the toes them when the water flood the yard,” added Ernestine Raymond. Raymond said she breaks out in rashes whenever the area is flooded. The woman said that every precaution has to be taken because she works. Last week, she said, came home to find the items in her home floating around in flood waters.
While one side of the drain floods the residents, the other side is a haven for mosquitoes to breed. This forces residents to keep indoors and they say that the mosquitoes are out “day and night”.
“I am living here 50 years and is a long time the trench need digging. It full of slush and that is what the mosquitoes breeding. The water stagnant,” Garnett said of the trench bordering the cemetery.
Minister Benn said he has been assessing the situation and “I have asked the engineer to locate pumps. We are contemplating looking at possible areas to put in place pumps to drain these areas.”
Benn pointed out however that the ministry will have to engage the City Council, whose responsibility the maintenance of the drains is, to get this done. Residents had said that City Council officials have not visited the area in years to clean it.
However Mayor and City Council City Engineer Gregory Erskine denied these statements. In an invited comment via the telephone, Erskine said the Princes Canal was de-silted last year through an IDB contract.
As for the overgrown canal, Erskine said the council does not have the finances for monthly maintenance of the canal and can only clean it about twice a year. Erskine’s department is responsible for the maintenance of 13 square miles of drains.
Erskine said the pump draining the Princes Canal is operational and aids in draining the water from the Lodge community.
