radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Although water has been restored in some flood-stricken areas, including Woodland and Penal, flood victims from Mafeking, Mayaro, are still suffering.Resident Kerron Kallicharan said people could not afford to purchase water and since the floods, many residents have been facing hardships.
This was also confirmed by Mayaro MP Rushton Paray, who said more than 80 per cent of the districts have been without a supply over the past few days. In some areas, water has been gone for more than two weeks, he added.
“The situation is aggravated by the lack of a regular and efficient provision of truck-borne services. Residents are made to wait several days for truck services. On top of that distressing situation, the Water and Sewerage Authority has not been communicating with residents,” Paray said.
He said he has been trying to have a town hall meeting with WASA but senior officials refused the invitation.
“The authority has also not responded to a proposal I submitted asking for improved communication and a scheduled water trucking service,” he added.
Paray said thousands of residents and business operators are affected.
“WASA’s indifference is adding insult to injury toward thousands of affected people, many of whom are still cleaning up after the recent historic floods,” he added.
Paray appealed to WASA “to show some sensitivity to the plight of the people of south-east Trinidad,” adding that WASA should inform the population when pipe-borne supplies would be restored.
Contacted for comment, WASA CEO Kelvin Romaine said he was awaiting a report from his Operations team about the water situation in Mayaro. He said a one-inch leak was being repaired and should have been completed by now.
On Wednesday, WASA issued a statement saying water had been restored in flood-prone areas.
The authority said on Tuesday that the Desalination Company of T&T was forced to conduct emergency repairs to a leak at their facility, which resulted in reduced flows from the facility to the authority. This affected the water supply for four hours.