Trou Macaque tenants to get new roof within three weeks.

WITHIN three weeks the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) is promising to re-roof the apartment complex at Trou Macaque, Laventille which was blown off on Tuesday.

Those who live at the apartment complex were assessed on Wednesday by HDC’s social services unit during an official visit which included MP for the area Fitzgerald Hinds.

When Newsday visited, the sheets of tarpaulin that was placed on Tuesday afternoon were on the ground. Residents said it blew off Wednesday morning after officials from HDC visited.

HDC officials told Newsday that while the assessment was done, the issue of compensation was not raised. On Tuesday tenants claimed they made repeated calls to HDC to have the roof replaced as the roof constantly banged whenever there were strong winds.

In a media release on Wednesday HDC thanked its partners Prestige Holdings Limited and Unicomer Trinidad Limited (Courts) for the donation of food, water, and five queen-sized mattresses and promised to continue doing all it can to assist its tenants.

The housing complex falls within the San Juan Laventille Regional Corporation district which said some 60 roofs were detached by the winds.

Speaking with the media at Green Acres, Trou Macaque on Wednesday, incumbent councillor for Success/Trou Macaque, Adanna Griffith-Gordon said apart from the flying roofs, 23 trees fell.

“We have gotten commitment from persons to assist and the MP (Fitzgerald Hinds) would have liaised with residents and repair works are on the way. Things are happening, it is unfortunate, but we are on the ground with the residents and we are not going to stop until the last roof is covered.”

She said residents are being assessed for any state assistance they may be entitled to.

The affected areas in the regional corporation included Trou Macaque, Eastern Quarry Laventille, Barataria, Malick, Caledonia, Quarry Road, Bourg Mulatresse, Cantaro Village and Pashley Street.

At Green Acres Diandrea Roberts recalled having to almost run out of her home unclothed when the winds peeled the steel roof off her home. The 37-year-old, who was home alone, said she could not believe her steel roof went flying.

“I heard the rattle and I said to myself ‘steel roofs don’t blow off,’ and I didn’t even think about it. By the time I blinked, literally from the back of the house, it peel straight forward. I was in a daze and panicked.”

Roberts said she recalled her father, who died in April, telling her and her siblings that if there was ever an earthquake to run to the front of the house, which she did on Tuesday afternoon. She said after seeing her home become a convertible, she tried calling her sister who had just dropped her off but the raised roof yanked the phone wires off the pole.

She ran downstairs to her brother’s home but he was not there so she sought refuge by the neighbour. The family of three, which include her husband and nephew who live in the upstairs of the family’s two story home, spent the night with relatives.

Newsday saw a mixture of family and neighbours covering the family’s home with tarpaulin and galvanise to stop the house from flooding in the event of rain. Roberts said they had burst holes to allow some of the water to flow out. She was unable to salvage anything, she said.

Apart from the roofs coming off and fallen trees, a number of areas also flooded on Tuesday. Answering questions in Parliament on Wednesday, Minister of Works and Transport said the areas experienced flash flooding with the water receding within one hour. He said while some debris came down with the flood, by the time he entered Parliament, which began at 1.30 pm, most of it was cleared.

Newsday visited Maraval where workers of both the Diego Martin Borough Corporation and Works and Transport Ministry were seen clearing some of the debris and slush.

On Wednesday the Met office discontinued the adverse weather alert.

In a media release on Wednesday afternoon the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) said service was restored to most of the affected areas with some being monitored.

With flooding reported in several parts of the country on Tuesday, WASA’s treatment plants were affected, resulting in some customers having to go without water for a while.

The release said customers serviced by plants in Guanapo, La Pastora, Caura, Acono, Maracas/St Joseph, Blanchisseuse, La Fillette, Las Cuevas, Tyrico, Valencia, Maraval and parts of Lopinot have had a full return to service.

It said areas serviced by its St Ann’s plant, which included Fondes Amandes, Symond Valley Road and Lower Ariapita Road were being monitored.