Mason Hall family's home collapses after heavy rain

A family of five, including twins, is now homeless after their wooden one-bedroom house collapsed in Mason Hall on Monday. Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) director Allan Stewart said news of the collapsed house was among 19 new reports which came into the agency on Monday, after heavy rain and landslides over the weekend.

The agency is currently dealing with 388 reports, he said.

"The collapsed house is critically important, because it has left a family of five stranded and homeless, and we had to find emergency shelter for them, which we did," Stewart told Newsday.

He said the social services division is attending to the family's needs.

Stewart said the bad weather over the past few days caused the house to collapse.

"The house did not have the best construction. It is a plyboard building, and it just did not stand up to the sogginess of the soil and collapsed."

He said the TEMA also responded to a blocked roadway in Providence, Les Coteaux, on Monday. A tree fell across the road but residents used saws and other implements to cut it so that it could be removed easily. TEMA posted images and videos of the residents removing the tree on its Facebook page.

The agency also relocated someone from a house in Lowlands to a convalescent facility.

"Social services is dealing with that situation in Lowlands, because it is a special-needs case. The person had to be moved because of his living conditions."

Stewart said there has been no let-up in the number of reports coming into the agency since last Wednesday's tropical wave, Invest 91L, and the ensuing heavy rain over the weekend. He added teams were still doing damage assessments.

The Division of Infrastructure, Quarries and Urban Development, meanwhile, said work has begun on three new roads in Tobago. In a statement, the division said the bypass from Lammy Road to Roxborough Parlatuvier Road will provide an alternate route to the Windward Main Road while the road from Mt Marie to Dutch Fort Crossing Canal will alleviate traffic congestion in Scarborough.

It added the construction of the Milford Court Pigeon Point Connector Road will provide a secondary exit for Pigeon Point, Milford Court and Mt Pleasant Development.

The division said the roads are intended to provide alternative access routes in the first instance and will also enhance the road network on the island.

Given the exigency of the circumstances and specialised nature of the task at hand, the division said, it has adopted a design-build-procurement model where a single contract is awarded for the design, construction and full or partial financing of the project.

"This creates a single point of responsibility for delivering the project swiftly, lower overall cost and reduces long-term risks."