Police face messy situation

They have no fear of the criminal element, but yesterday, officers of the Marabella Police Station lost their courage and fled from the charge room of the station when raw sewage from the building’s septic tanks began overflowing into the building. Phones and desks were left unmanned as the officers said the stench was unbearable.

This is not the first time the septic tanks have overflowed, as one officer said the problem arises every other month. “It will overflow, they come and pump out the septic tank and within four to five weeks, it overflows again,” the officer said. “Is real mess here.”

“This has been going on for the past three to four years and nothing is being done to address it.” The officers say because they are restricted from taking protest action by law, their problems continue to be ignored. “We can’t protest, so they can do whatever they feel like and nobody will know cause we can’t talk out.” The officers on shift sat outside the building while National Maintenance Training and Security Company Limited (MTS) employees braved the smell as they tried to clean up inside the charge room. In addition to the stench and water in the offices, the male and female toilets were also inaccessible. “We have officers having to leave this station and go to San Fernando to use the washroom, this is not a new occurrence, it is happening every other month like clockwork and it is too much for us to continue to bear,” an officer said. “We don’t know what else we need to say or how else to beg them to rectify these problems.”

The officers say the building ought to be condemned if the sewage problem persists. “If they are spending money ever so often to pump the septic tank and clean up the waste, why not invest that same money to fix the problem once and for all,” an officer said.