Life in a Moruga continues to be a struggle for 68-year-old Alloy Triea Guillermo and his wife Susan who strained as they pulled a box cart carrying a barrel of water across a dilapidated road.
It was for reasons like these that the usually quiet community of the Penal Rock Road erupted in fiery and noisy protest against a poor standard of living that mimicked the post-colonial era.
Frustrated that governments, past and present have ignored their basic needs for street lights, water, proper roads, drainage and jobs, they called on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to fire their MP, Dr Lovell Francis for a lack of representation.
Outside his home yesterday, Guillermo told the T&T Guardian that he has to full water from one of two 1000-gallon tanks placed at the roadside by WASA, which is filled once a week. The tanks are used by approximately 800 residents in the community, some who travel three and four miles for water. When the tanks are empty, Susan said they have to visit her brother-in-law’s irrigation pond to fetch water, which she has to boil before using.
With rain not failing in the past month, the level of the pond is falling.
“Since I was born, we have been using box cart. You think it is right for an old man like me to be doing this? I have to be pulling a barrel of water on a box cart and my wife behind pushing. These are modern times so we should not be have to be living so backward,” Guillermo said.
There was repair works on their road a few years ago but because of the unstable land and a lack of proper drainage, it began to slip again. Before that, it was last repaired during the Basdeo Panday administration between 1995 to 2001. As Francis showed up in the village, located between the 10 and 16 mile marks, he received a scolding from the protesters who chanted in unison, “What you did for Penal Road? Nothing!”
Trees from the village’s multi-million-dollar teak industry were cut and used to block the road as they said outsiders were being given jobs instead of them. The Penal Rock Road links Basse Terre, Moruga to the Penal junction and is used for many residents to get their shopping and business done.
Lester Guevarro, president of the 14 1/4 mm Penal Rock Road Community Council said it has been years since they have been pleading for their roads to be repaired. Now their patience have run out, he said the protest will continue until something is done. He said there is water in the line once per week but if the pump malfunctions, residents have to wait for another seven days. He said the PTSC bus stops at the 10-mile mark so people living beyond have to walk. For motorists, there are tragedies waiting to happen as the road is slipping in several areas. Guevarro said they have been pleading with T&TEC to have 22 street lights installed as many of the residents have to traverse the road from the Basse Terre junction to their homes at night on foot.
Pleading for patience, Francis said the issues are common to most rural communities. He said that upon assuming the role of MP for the Tableland/Moruga constituency, he learned that the community had no water for three months prior. He said because the community was geographically located higher than others, it was difficult for the water to reach their homes. He said there are some areas without water mains and he has asked WASA to begin a pipe laying exercise.
With respect to the road, he said, he has already met with Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan and Rural Development and Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein to have the road repaired.
