Shastri Boodan
Over 150 households were affected in some way by flooding in the Cunupia area on Thursday. Floodwaters rose after Wednesday’s heavy downpour, affecting numerous areas in the Mon Plaisir area, damaging residents' household items, school supplies and even put one fashion designer out of business.
Parasram Jagroop, a fashion designer of Mon Plaisir Road, said he lost everything including his sewing shop.
"I never get flooded here, first time I get flooded here," Jagroop said. He is a popular figure in the community and has designed gowns for many beauty queens. Rasheed Mohammed had to use dirt to create a dirt embankment to keep the water out of his house. Mohammed said the waters started rising around midday on Wednesday, went down but came back again on Thursday.
Balmatie Gosyne, the local government representative for Las Lomas/ San Rafael in the Couva/ Tabaquite/ Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC), said a project to enhance the flow of Cunupia River was supposed to be completed in the dry season. However, this project is still pending and is contributing to flooding in the area.
Gosyne said she would try to get relief to the residents.
However, she said the CTTRC has only one working cesspool pump truck.
Minister of Works and Transport, Rohan Sinanan, said the contractor doing repairs to the wall on the Cunupia River will be asked to speed up the project. Sinanan said work on the project had halted because of the inclement weather that prevented the casting of concrete slabs to complete the river’s retaining wall. Sinanan said the works had gotten off to a slow start initially because the contractors had problems accessing the river banks because several residents had encroached on the land and were preventing the contractor from getting to the problem areas.
Judy Ramroop, whose property borders the Southern Main Road and the southern side of the river said the contractors were not answering any calls from her. Ramroop said the river is eroding her property which is now at risk of collapsing. She said just over 12 years ago a retaining wall was constructed in the river but it collapsed two years ago. Ramroop said the contractor still has equipment on her property “This is the first time I am seeing this height of water and now it's starting to undermine the foundation.”