Landslide puts Mandingo Road residents in danger

A major landslip at Mandingo Road via Princes Town has destroyed a three-storey house and now threatens several others.

The road is impassable, and residents are calling on the authorities to repair the damaged road, fearful that it may soon “pull-down other houses.”

The road had been officially closed since December 22. It is a major road that connects to Moruga Road at Fifth Company Village, and Cumuto Road in Barrackpore. It also connects to Lengua Road, Shahadath Road, and Realize Road.

Moruga/Tableland MP Michelle Benjamin told Newsday, businesses have also been severely affected. She said some are on the verge of closure, initiated by the pandemic and hastened with the road’s closure.

“They are losing their customers. I noticed the detour at Sahadath Road, and that has me frightened. That road has the same issues as this road. Both are affected by landslips,” Benjamin said.

“The homeowners are asking for answers and compensation. These are three-storey buildings that are collapsing, and it is no fault of theirs. I stand with the residents and will fight with them until something is done.”

Benjamin said, as MP she sent several pieces of correspondence to Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan last year. She also spoke directly to him on the issue hoping the problem would be solved. She said he promised to send officials to visit and they did.

“Even today some came to the site, but we are not getting anything tangible.”

At the site on Wednesday, several residents gathered to express their frustration.

They said over the years the land kept moving. In 2019, the owner of the destroyed house, Mazurat Ali – retiree, his wife and their two adult children moved out owing to huge and continuous cracks on the property.

The road began caving rapidly last August.

“Up to last night I heard noise from the (empty) house. I believe we are taken for granted in this area. We are hearing the ministry does not have money to repair the road,” Shamina Mohammed said.

She and eight family members, including her 84-year-old father, are directly affected. Already pillars from the garage area of a three-storey concrete house had been separated. She blamed a utility company for failing to maintain manholes which became filled with water and undermined the properties.

“We have a storage room, and whenever it rains it is filled with water. We don’t have money to build another house. Where would we go? If heavy rains come, this house could collapse. But I am not moving.

“Our rubble drain has been compromised. They (authorities) have to fix the road. I would have to build a retaining wall, but the ministry needs to fix the road first.”

The owner of Sayo’s meat and poultry, Saifyo Deen, called on the authorities to rectify the issue as sales have been slow since the closure of the road.