Stench of neglect

YET AGAIN, there’s a problem with the sewage system at Beetham Gardens.

Yet again, the authorities have been too slow to respond.

And yet again, politicians have been found wanting.

For two weeks, residents of 24th Street have been enduring the intolerable. Raw sewage has been overflowing, entering yards and homes. If a child’s ball ends up in a canal, they might follow it and bring back sickness.

“We are humans as well,” said president of the community council, Joel Lee, on April 30. “We know it’s because of the area we live in that we are being neglected. If this was Westmoorings, Trincity or Valsayn, these issues would be resolved long time.”

We wish we could contradict such assertions, but the facts make that difficult.

It was only three years ago, in August 2021, that a sinkhole caused by a ruptured sewer formed in the area. More than a week reportedly elapsed before the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA) mobilised a team.

But by January 2022, the matter was still unresolved; desperate residents staged a fiery protest.

Contacted then for comment, WASA chairman Ravindra Nanga pleaded for a little more patience and apologised for the delay. It took months for repairs to be completed.

WASA this week said the current problem – which some residents say dates to 2019 – stems from demolition activity, exposed sewer lines, missing end caps, and recent rainfall forcing water into the sewer system.

The authority hasn’t been able to say how soon it will be fixed.

There’s no doubt aging infrastructure, all over the country, poses a challenge. Much of this infrastructure is no longer fit for purpose. And there are increasing pressures stemming from climate change.

But why should ordinary citizens bear the burden of all this? Why does the State, with all its resources, consistently fail to deal with and plan for these contingencies?

Mr Nanga last month, yet again, asked people to “hold strain” on the separate issue of WASA-created potholes; a new MoU with Lake Asphalt T&T Ltd was signed.

Will WASA officials ask 24th Street to have more patience, too?

Meanwhile, someone with seemingly little patience for scrutiny, Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds, when contacted about the situation this week, said, “I only heard about it on Monday. But I was in the Beetham on Sunday. Tell your editors to write that.”

The cynical view that politicians only do walkabouts at elections or for optics is fuelled, in part, by the fact that many do not acknowledge “representation” as a wider exercise.

Needed now is not splashy pappyshow, but effective liaising with constituents, local government officials and the relevant Cabinet ministers to help address the situation unfolding right under the MP’s nose.