Dear Editor,
Red Thread is very disturbed about the condition of the Princes Street canal which is filled with garbage. We have had several conversations with persons in charge of drainage and irrigation including the City Constabulary Department but all these conversations fell on deaf ears.
During the general election campaign when Mayor Hamilton Greene visited the Charlestown area we spoke to him and he promised that he would get someone to clean the trench every day. He then made a phone call and a man came from the office of the City Constabulary Department in Princes Street who said that he would get someone to come and clean the trench every day.
When this did not happen we wrote a letter to the Engineering Department seeking permission to block both sides of the trench so that we would not have the sight and smell of garbage alongside our centre. We had several meetings with staff of the Mayor and City Council where we were refused permission to block the trench after one of the staff visited our centre saying that it would be against the law to block the trench. We have been paying for cleaning the trench, and cleaning the trench ourselves, but due to skin irritation we were forced to stop.
This sight is not pleasant and it is not healthy, so we are again calling on the authorities to look into this situation urgently. Below is a picture of the sight we have to look at every day.
Yours faithfully,
Halima Khan
For Red Thread