A massive landslide led to the collapse of the Gran Couva Main Road in the vicinity of the Cameron Road Junction, on Saturday.
Asa Roopchan, who lives next to the landslide, said he was able to drive into his yard last night. However, after the heavy showers, he awoke to a collapsed roadway and managed to get two of his vehicles out of the yard before the roads started to collapse further. Roopchan said he had to cover massive cracks in his yard with tarpaulins to prevent rain from entering and worsening the landslides on his property.
Chandroutie Bhajnath, 43, said many parts of the community are now cut-off and they would have to use the narrow Cameron Road as a detour. Bhajnath said the community had been pleading with the authorities to have the roadway fixed but the neglect turned into more woes for the villages.
She said the Gran Couva RC School, the La Vega Estate, and the Montserrat Cocoa Farmers’ Cooperative are now cut off.
Bhajnath told Guardian Media that a WASA leak in front of her house was only repaired this week. She said the leak had caused several houses in that part of Gran Couva to slip and residents are now fearing that their houses would fall apart.
WASA was on the scene to examine a 12-inch PVC main pipeline that runs through the centre of the roadway. WASA officials on the site said the mains is in danger of rupturing unless works are done to move the line soon. They indicated that if the line ruptures, this would result in residents of upper Gran Couva to Brasso being cut-off.
Member of Parliament for Tabaquite, Anita Haynes MP, said the deplorable state of the area’s infrastructure needs urgent attention. She said the cocoa industry in the area would suffer greatly unless repairs are undertaken swiftly.
Dianne Chinpire, assistant secretary of the Montserrat Cocoa Farmers’ Cooperative Society, said 40 farmers export around 60 tons of beans from that area. Chinpire said container trucks would have to come in for the beans but the detour through Cameron Road is too narrow for heavy vehicles.
Chinpire said cocoa has a limited shelf life and farmers are at risk of losing their produce.