Navigating their way through flood waters with makeshift raft and oars, last week Tarouba youth were portrayed in high spirits. In the East, at Second Street in Mt Lambert, residents were busily engaged in mop up operations after the downpour. On Thursday, residents expressed their discontent with the flooding whenever it rains. Random checks with residents in the middle class suburban community who were not immediately affected indicated they, too, empathised with their neighbours. Residents Inskip Lewis and his friend Anthony Auguste surveyed the damage as the street still bore evidence of mud.
Lewis said: "We were just talking about the flooding. Whenever it rains, it's a real problem. I have never seen Mt Lambert look nasty like this. I have been living here for 30 years." Auguste added: "I was just talking about the man who used to come by with a broom and sweep up right after. Nowadays, the neighbours and everybody does start to wash down and clean up right away." Quizzed on the genesis of the flooding, Lewis cast the blame on inadequate drainage. To compound it, the San Juan River snakes past the bungalows with well-manicured lawns en route to prime agricultural lands.
Lewis said: "A lot of people are building houses in the back there without adequate approvals. Town and Country Planning has not authorised it. The water comes back and floods us." A backhoe was spotted dredging a section of the river. But Auguste remained unimpressed. "A lot of engineers come down here, and nothing." Despite the flooding, both gentlemen boasted they were proud to be living at Mt Lambert. "The place real nice. I went England and came back to Mt Lambert," said Auguste.
Praedial larceny, drainage
While residents have to contend with flooding, farmers have to deal with drainage and praedial larceny issues. About 30 farmers cultivate cauliflower, corn, pimentos, okras, bananas and hot peppers in an area once dubbed "the food basket of Trinidad." After labouring in the heat, farmers like Brian De Leon complained about being robbed. Hailing him, proprietor Brian "Baker" Llewellyn and his friends Sean Pierre and Darryl Ahing urged him to share his story. De Leon said he never regretted his decision to move to Mt Lambert. "Mt Lambert nice. You take a drink with the fellas." But his Utopia was short-lived when bandits struck three times.
De Leon said: "I get flooding. But is the praedial larceny. These hustlers come with their vehicles and bicycles and cart off your produce. It's scary..." Reliving the pain, De Leon added: "A man hands me up. He beat me up. He say, 'Ah want to mash you up.' It wasn't nice. They took everything I worked so hard for. Things I took years to get, they took it in minutes. They took about $20,000 worth of produce. "Mt Lambert get real scary. We living in jail." He had made reports to the police but no justice was served.
A stone's throw away farmer/resident Rennie Balkissoon complained vehemently about poor drainage. Pausing from tying a crop of tomatoes, he pointed to clogged drains. He said: "For the past two years, government has been promising to fix the flooding and the drainage. It flood again. Second Avenue was impassable." Keenly aware he could lose $20,000 in one fell swoop, Balkissoon said: "When it is time for harvesting, we have to get somebody to stay and watch the crops. He can't sleep. They mostly strike in the evening." Efforts to contact St Joseph MP Hubert Volney proved futile.
Residents' wish list
• Three humps at Mt Lambert Circular;
• Sustainable employment;
• Recreational facilities for youth (not Cepep);
• A community centre;
• Upgrade basketball court; a park;
• Regular police patrols;
• Renewed community spirit;
• Curbing of sporadic crimes (burglaries, break ins)