[UPDATED] Life on the edge

Contrary to a video being circulated on WhatsApp of a Laventille resident showing concern over how close his house stands to a cliff overlooking the new Laventille pool, residents at Fatima Trace say they are not fearful and are confident that neither they nor swimmers are in any immediate danger.

Newsday visited the area, off Sogren Trace, yesterday and spoke to lifelong resident John Stephen, who said while his home was literally on the edge of the cliff overlooking the pool, he was not afraid the house would crumble or fall over the edge.

"I've lived here over 30 years and nothing like that ever happened. You just have to live with confidence and God and everything will be okay. I don't feel afraid or anything like that."
Stephen also said the hill on which they lived was strong and did not think swimmers were in any danger of falling debris from the cliff.

Other residents said they were not concerned and welcomed the pool as a part of the community.
"It's a nice initiative. We like it and we're not afraid. A lot of the people on this side have been living here for years and nothing ever happened, so we are comfortable where we are."

Newsday also spoke to councillor for the area deputy Port of Spain mayor Hillian Morean, who said the rock face on which the houses were built was solid and safety concerns had already been addressed by the contractor's engineers during the planning stages.

"The rock face there is really solid," he said. "It was part of an old quarry and has been there for decades. There are people who built their houses on layers of solid rock, but I know the engineers would have been doing their tests to ensure everything was up to mark.

"I know the MP (Fitzgerald) Hinds would have been discussing with the contractors the placement of a fabric over the area which will help with falling foliage and so on, so there are ways to treat with the erosion of soil and so on. So those concerns are definitely being addressed."

Morean also said he, other councillors and stakeholders from the Defence Force were holding meetings on when the pool would be opened to the public. He said they were expecting it to be opened on July 22 and it will feature a number of different activities and classes for the community.

Morean said the pool would be accessible to residents for a small fee to assist in its general maintenance.

This story was originally published with the title "Laventille residents comfortable despite closeness to cliff" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

Contrary to a video being circulated on WhatsApp of a Laventille resident showing concern over the closeness of his house to a cliff overlooking the Laventille pool, residents at Fatima Trace say they are not fearful and are confident that neither they nor swimmers are in any immediate danger.

Newsday visited the area, off Sogren Trace, this afternoon and spoke to lifelong resident John Stephen, who said while his home was located literally on the edge of the cliff overlooking the pool, he was not afraid the house would crumble from tremors.

"I've lived here over 30 years and nothing like that ever happened. You just have to live with confidence and God and everything will be okay. I don't feel afraid or anything like that."

Stephen also said the hill on which they live was strong and did not think swimmers were in any danger of falling debris from the cliff.

Other residents said they were not concerned over how close their homes were to the cliff edge and said they welcomed the pool as a part of the community.

"It's a nice initiative. We like it and we're not afraid. A lot of the people on this side have been living here for years and nothing ever happened, so we are comfortable where we are."