While for some people a Christmas miracle may be winning the lotto or getting the home of their dreams for a fraction of the cost, residents of Upper Wharf Trace in Maracas/St Joseph are just praying for a pipe born water supply.
For almost fifteen years, close to one hundred households have not had water in their taps.
Beryl Cathy explained residents would wait for the rain to fill their tanks but when that is finished, the struggle begins.
Gonzales Baron, 82, said he has made numerous complaints to the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) over the years.
The only effort made he stated was to have a tank installed along the roadside. But now, he said WASA has not been sticking to its own refill schedule.
He said, “my two small grandchildren lose school because of that, my toilet doesn’t flush for days”.
Another resident lamented, “it have days that you have to economize on bathing, you have to wash like once for the week, you have to cut down on washing wares”.
We are told the tanks are filled only after several pleas are made to WASA.
However, Andre Solomon, who lives in the area, said the time has come to do away with the tanks.
“I think is unfair for people to be fulling water from these tanks in this day and age.” He added, “the budget is billions and is only $1 million for a booster to push water from Maracas going all the way down”.
When Guardian Media visited the community yesterday, the tank was empty while there were merely drips of water from some taps.
The residents told Guardian Media WASA has been consistent with one thing and that is sending their bills on time.
However, many of them insisted they will not pay for a service that is not being provided.
Instead, the residents stated they intend to put their money to good use and ensure they get access to the precious commodity.
One resident said, “We spend more money than everybody else because besides paying WASA, we have to pay for water and it costs us $200 to full a tank then, we have to buy water to drink and even to go to the laundry mat”.
Isha Solomon, President of the Wharf Trace Village Council, told Guardian Media several letters have been sent to Member of Parliament for the area, Esmond Forde, and Councillor Corey Selvon to bring this problem to their attention. However, she said nothing has been done. She estimated that there are two hundred and fifty children who live in the area and questioned what message is the authority sending to them when they are not able to have basic commodities.
Solomon said residents of Upper Wharf Trace grieve to have just an inch of “progressive development”.
Guardian Media contacted WASA’s Chief Executive Officer, Alan Poon King, for a comment. He said the authority will investigate the matter and an update will be provided thereafter.
