Life has become difficult for eight families of Pleasantville, after Heritage Petroleum dug a trench across their roadway, preventing them from driving on top of an old, buried oil and gas pipeline.
The families, of Blitz Village Extension, are regularised squatters who built their homes 35 years ago on the periphery of the pipeline, which runs through the community to the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery.
The pipeline is maintained by Heritage Petroleum.
However, the villagers say two months ago, a Heritage team came to them and advised them that it was dangerous to drive over the buried pipeline. The three-foot trench was then dug.
Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday, resident Judy Garcia said the trench was a hazard to villagers, as it was now a haven for snakes, rats, mosquitoes and centipedes.
“We have a lot of creatures in there, frogs, snakes and the only thing we have not seen is a caiman. They crawling out. This is dangerous,” she said.
She explained that although the company blocked them off, Heritage contractors use heavy tractors to cut the grass where the pipeline is buried.
“We understand they do not want residents to pass with their vehicles over the line but this is not the way to stop that. This trench is a health hazard. It is a risk to the children who play here. My grandson has a cough and every two days I have to spray for mosquitoes,” Garcia complained.
Another resident, Avril Luces, said her seven-seater Nissan Prairie has been parked up ever since the trench was dug.
“When they came to test their lines two months ago, they dug the trench in front of the roadway, which they left open. They came back afterwards and dug it deeper. I have a burger cart. I cannot use it. I cannot drop children to school. This is affecting my livelihood,” Luces explained.
She added: “Heritage need to come here and talk to us and explain why they dug this trench here. They have blocked us up entirely and we deserve better. We are humans too. We living like this for months and it is not fair to us.”
She agreed that if the line was rusty and old, vehicles should not pass on top of it.
However, she said Heritage and the local government officials should construct another access road for them.
If that was not possible, Luces said the company and Government should organise to have them relocated.
“It is hard for us. Imagine we have to cross this trench and walk with our groceries. No ambulance can get in here if we get sick. We have a child who is autistic, he too is affected. We have to carry the gas tank out the road because we can no longer drive to our houses,” she added.
Henry Alexander said a woodworker who lives near the trench said he could no longer operate.
“The hardware driver cannot come in here to offload the material. We getting problems getting materials. Since they open up this trench our lives have been difficult but we do not know who to go to in Heritage,” he said.
Alexander agreed that if passing on top of the line was not an option, then an alternative route should be made available to residents.
“We want Heritage to come and speak with us and let us know how we can move forward,” he added.
Alexander said he and his neighbours have been living at Blitz Village Extension for over 35 years. The pipeline had already existed. In those days, Alexander said the houses were wooden or made of plyboard.
Now, the residents have upgraded to concrete houses and most of them have vehicles, he added.
Contacted for comment, a senior official at Heritage Petroleum said they were investigating the residents’ complaints and would issue a response soon.
