Vishanna Phagoo
The drop in water levels of the Caroni River, at Ibis Gardens, has revealed the extend of erosion and residents fear if left untouched the next heavy shower will spell disaster for the entire community.
A significant portion of the southern embankment has collapsed into the riverbed after torrential rains over the last few days and with more rain forecast over the weekend residents fear the worst.
Andre Ramsahai, who lives a few houses away from the potential disaster at Jacobin Drive, said: "The real issue for me comes is if there is heavy rainfalls because then that's it, I would be done."
Right now, the bank only has around 18 inches of reinforcement left and Ramsahai said if heavy rainfall continues, the entire bank will be gone.
Personnel from the Housing Development Corporation visited on Saturday to survey the damage and one official said emergency works are necessary to protect the community of over 150 families, some of whom live in one-storey houses.
Ramsahai said the situation could have been avoided if the authorities had addressed their reports made two months ago when the first signs of weakness of the embankment occurred.
"A couple months ago we started seeing the river bank collapsing into the water so we indicated it to the relevant authorities. We spoke to the Ministry of Works and Transport and the reason for not showing up is always the same, there's no funding."
He said on Friday, representatives from the ministry visited the area and one official told him that there is nothing that can be done until the ministry acquires more funds for the repairs.
"I told the representative that was not an option because it have no way I could recover from the damage that I am going to experience."
[caption id="attachment_968581" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The collapsed embankment of the Caroni River at Ibis Gardens, Caroni which has sparked fear and concern among the residents on Saturday after the water levels dropped. - Darren Bahaw[/caption]
Ramsahai, who is the owner of A&N Auto Centre, said if the conditions do not improve he isn't sure what will happen to his equipment as they cannot be easily moved to higher grounds. He said if the river bank bursts and the water rushes to his home, there would be no way to protect his hydraulic ramps, compressors or generators and his business could be destroyed.
Another resident took it upon himself to make everyone in the area aware of the imminent danger by going door-to-door and showing them videos and pictures of the depleted river bank. He said it was alarming that 20-feet of river bank became 18 inches overnight and the residents must be aware of it.
Jerome Moses said, "If nothing is done to restore the bank, they (the residents) wouldn't just be flooded out, they would have to go up on the roof."
He said there would be no protection between the residents and that volume of water. Moses said everyone in the area has been calling the ministry and other relevant agencies, but no one could never relay their c
