Carisa Lee

Se­nior Re­porter

caisa.lee@cnc3.co.tt

Res­i­dents, busi­ness own­ers and cor­po­ra­tion work­ers joined forces in Mar­aval to pull a re­frig­er­a­tor from an un­der­ground drain at Val­lot Street and Sad­dle Road yes­ter­day.

The fridge, along with oth­er de­bris, had been block­ing the wa­ter flow, and Diego Mar­tin Bor­ough Cor­po­ra­tion work­ers be­gan dredg­ing the drain to ease fu­ture flood­ing.

On Tues­day, just half an hour of rain­fall left Eller­slie Plaza, near­by homes and the Boissiere RC Pri­ma­ry School un­der wa­ter, forc­ing the ear­ly dis­missal of class­es and af­fect­ing five busi­ness­es.

Stake­hold­ers say flood­ing in the area is a long­stand­ing prob­lem that has wors­ened. Par­ents at Boissiere RC, where flood­ing has plagued the school for over sev­en years, are de­mand­ing ur­gent ac­tion, warn­ing stu­dents’ health and ex­am prepa­ra­tion are at risk.

Coun­cil­lor Dami­an Fournil­li­er said a pro­pos­al is be­ing pre­pared for Cab­i­net to se­cure funds in the up­com­ing bud­get, but res­i­dents want im­me­di­ate re­lief is need­ed.