Collapsed wall crushes house in Laventille

“I almost died there, that’s what really happened.”

This was the statement of Debra Woods, 44, of Eastern Quarry, Laventille after her neighbour’s 50-foot retaining wall fell on her house on May 18, following two days of heavy rains.

Woods said she had just got out of the shower and put on clothes when the house started "exploding" around her.

“Everything started to fall and cave in and loud noises. I got really frightened and tried to escape but the door was locked. I ran to the other side of the house but I couldn't get out because of the burglar proof. I turned and started to pray and said, 'God help me!'

“I tried to calm myself and the roof had fallen and I could see a V opening in the wall connecting the living room to the bedroom, so I got up on the bed and I just threw myself over there and tried to squeeze through the door to get out to safety. I almost died there, that’s what really happened.”

She said she did not realise what had happened until after she got out of the house.

“With the heavy rains, the wall just came down and destroyed over 90 per cent of the house.

“My neighbours came and took me to the hospital. I had to get stitches on both feet and get an X-ray. I was discharged at 1 am and I stayed by a neighbour, because the Disaster Management Unit people from the San Juan Regional Corporation told me it was unsafe to stay in the house. I have nowhere else to go.”

Woods said she had been contacted and/or visited by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, Laventille West MP Kareem Marcelle, councilor Darren Corridon, the Works and Transport Ministry, the People, Social Development and Family Services Ministry and the TT Electricity Commission and was told her house was unlivable.

She said she received a food card and forms to fill out to get vouchers. She said she was told she would not be able to get a grant for housing materials as she had not owned the house for 12 years.

“I’m hoping the Ministry of Housing will be able to assist. I bought the house seven years ago, did some renovations and fixed it up and now everything is just gone.”

Anyone interested in assisting Woods can call/WhatsApp at 721-4411.

Lee-Ann Baptiste, 36, said she and her mother Ingrid Kydd, 66, were at home at Readymix Private Road, Prizgar Lands, Laventille, around 3 pm on the evening of May 18 and heard cracking and crashing noises. As they were looking outside to see what had happened, neighbours called them to say their retaining wall had fallen on the neighbour’s house.

“When we watch out, we wall fall on top the neighbour house in the quarry and mash up she whole back of she house and half of she roof and she window, from she bedroom to her kitchen to half of her drawing room.”

Baptiste said they called Woods to apologise for the damage and inconvenience to her home, as they had put up the wall to protect their house from falling off the cliff it was on into the quarry below, and to protect Woods as well. Baptiste said the collapse of the wall was the result of the contractor’s shoddy work.

Homeowner: $265,000 spent on wall

She said her mother had approached then-MP Fitzgerald Hinds in 2018 following the 6.9 earthquake for assistance in building a retaining wall and was told the regional corporation would not be able to assist with materials. She said after being turned away again in 2018, her mother decided to build the wall on her own.

Baptiste said her mother hired a contractor from Point Fortin and paid him $90,000 for labour and took a $175,000 loan from Eastern Credit Union to buy materials, which she was still paying off.

Baptiste said work on the wall began in April 2023 and after the last part of the wall was cast a few months later, the contractor stopped taking their calls, even though he had left some tools behind. She said they were also paying for dirt to backfill the space between the wall and their property. She said they had taken a break last week and the heavy rains over the weekend had led to disaster.

She said the DMU of the corporation came within half an hour after being called. She said the regional corporation engineers told her the wall was built without drainage holes which would have prevented water from undermining the land and the backfill.

“They said we have to sue him because he did a bad job, especially with the amount we spent.”

Baptiste said her mother had been living in the house since 1979 when her father had given it to her and had received a deed of comfort in the 1980s. She said while her mother would be able to stay with family members in Sea Lots, she did not know where she would be staying.

Laventille West MP Kareem Marcelle said he was told of the incident shortly after it happened and called the chairman of the San Juan/Laventille regional corporation, who sent a team to investigate the incident.

“The engineers’ preliminary findings were that the retaining wall was poorly constructed. There was no base, there was no drainage for water to sift through. It was constructed in 2023 but it was a disaster waiting to happen because it was not well done and the inclement weather would have caused it to collapse.”

He said the residents of both houses were told the houses were unsafe and was told they had made arrangements to live with relatives nearby.

Marcelle said the Ministry of Works and Transport, the regional corporation, and the People, Social Development and Family Services Ministry were expected to visit later on May 19.

“My office guided them through the process of applying to the National Self-Help Commission for grants. Before they do any sort of works, the different agencies would need to come in and do thorough assessments. We also have to wait to see what the effects of further inclement weather will be.”

Marcelle said he would continue to liase with both families to ensure they receive assistance.