Tabaquite students brave hazardous landslip to reach CSEC exam

Desperate to get to the Tabaquite Secondary School to sit CSEC exams on Tuesday morning, over a dozen schoolchildren hitched rides with complete strangers to get past a landslip along the Guaracara/Tabaquite Main road.

Resident Sharen Badal-Ahyew spoke to Newsday on Tuesday morning after she was forced to return to her home because of the landslip, located at the 17-mile mark along the road.

She said the problem began to develop last year due to illegal quarrying along the main road.

She said the matter was raised by MP for the area, Anita Haynes to Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan last September.

“To date, absolutely nothing substantial has been forthcoming from the Ministry of Works. We are into the rainy season. Over the last two days has made that road impassable to commuters.”

She said those willing to drive on the narrowed road run the risk of toppling over as they were driving on a retaining wall.

Basal-Ahyew said when she tried to leave the community for work on Tuesday, she realised she could not drive past the landslip.

A maxi-taxi driver carrying students to the Tabaquite Secondary School came to the same conclusion. The school is a ten-minute drive from the landslip but the driver said he was not willing to risk the students' safety.

“We had children sitting in that maxi, on their way to write the Mathematics Paper 1 who had tears in their eyes because instead of focusing on their exams, they had to study how they were going to get to school.”

She said she and other residents tried to assist the students by putting them in cars with those who were willing to take the risk.

“We had to put children in vehicles with total strangers and hope and pray they make it to school safely, we have to pray their parents don’t have to look for them this evening because they never made it to school.”

She said residents were completely fed up with the ongoing situation and she is calling for immediate action.

“We have people who were leaving their homes to get chemotherapy treatment at the San Fernando General Hospital, and they had to turn back. We need this landslip to be fixed immediately.”

At around 3.30 pm, a truck driver tried to drive past the mud slide, but his vehicle got stuck, blocking the road entirely.

Badal-Ahyew said the road was impassable.

Sinanan visited the area on October 18, 2022, and in a video posted to his ministry’s social media account, he said, “The solution is not easy because as you move the material from the road, the material keeps coming down.

“If you look on top, you realise they have been quarrying here for quite a while and unfortunately, no one took any move to actually stop it.

“This is about the fourth time the ministry had to stop it.”

He said he visited the area to find a solution. One such solution would be closing the road, he said.

“The problem with that is there is no alternate access that is feasible.”

Sinanan said his ministry was also exploring its legal options to recover costs from the contractor who caused the landslip.