Diego Martin river tears down wall

The Diamond Vale home of the Feracho family, where they have lived for more than 40 years, may literally go down the drain if the section of the Diego Martin river which is currently eroding its foundation is not repaired.

This is what the family told Newsday after the wall behind their home fell, as a result of heavy rain and bad weather last weekend.

The Ferachos, residents of 100 Emerald Drive, called on the Ministry of Works Monday to help them rebuild the wall and repair that section of the river bed.

“This started on October 9,” said one. “There was flooding in Diego Martin and part of the wall came down. On Sunday the river came down again and took the rest. We have been calling on the ministry and the corporations for two years now, but the corporation said that it was the ministry’s job. All of this could have been avoided if the ministry acted earlier.”

Newsday was told that two years ago the family noticed the river was compromising the soil under the wall. It had reached the point where the wall had fallen and left a gaping hole in their back yard, about ten metres wide.

The family, along with members of the community, came together to repair the wall and fill the hole, which cost the family around $10,000. The residents used baskets of rocks to fill the hole and put up a wall, but with the passing of Hurricane Bret last year, the wall and its foundation were once again undermined. On Sunday as the rain poured down, causing mass flooding nationwide, the Diego Martin River, which had been consistently eroding the soil under the wall, finished the job, leaving the back yard and the house vulnerable to all forms of wild animals, like caimans and snakes – and criminals.

“Last Thursday or Friday, four men came into the yard,” the resident said, “My sister saw them and she started screaming. They ran through the yard and jumped the fence. It is a good thing they were not the kind of criminals to storm into houses. You could just walk into the yard from the river. People do that now. It is a danger all how.”

With the wall gone, residents are worried that the water will now wash away the yard, and soon the house.