Residents’ concerns about water pooling in a trench dug in Husbands Gardens earlier this year have reached the Drainage Unit which is assessing the situation, according to St James South MP Sandra Husbands.
The catchment, dug at the end of Pelican Avenue and First Avenue East in March, has been holding water, breeding mosquitoes and posing safety concerns for pedestrians.
Henderson Greaves, who has lived in the area for 34 years, said he was told by an official from the Ministry of Transport and Works that the catchment was dug to ease flooding in Independence Drive following complaints.
But he questioned the explanation, saying Independence Drive is on higher ground than the area where the catchment was placed.
“If you look, Independence Drive is elevated from where you are standing. So how can water or flooding from this area get out on Independence Drive? He could not answer me,” he said.
Greaves said he told the official that previous flooding in the area was linked to a well east of First Avenue which overflowed after heavy rainfall.
“I said to him, the problem that occurred here when Barbados had nine inches of rain in four hours last year or the year before was a result of the well to the east of First Avenue that overflowed its bank and flooded down here with the extra water, which made it difficult for this catchment to take it off.”
Greaves said residents were not consulted before the work was carried out and complained that no one returned to assess the situation after the catchment was dug.
He added: “Kids used to play here. We had almond trees that we used to shelter under. That lady over there used to bring her sheep and things and put them on the upper level to help graze the grass down. Myself and my neighbour here, we would keep it clear because the team that was supposed to clean here, I think their contract ran out, and the [National Conservation Commission] never assigned anyone else to come and cut this area here, west of First Avenue.”
He suggested that the catchment was now holding stagnant water because of the clay underneath: “It’s like building what we call an aquarium for fish, so the water isn’t going anywhere, and what they have done in that stupidity is block off the exit to the cave at the western end you can see. The cave is blocked, but that mound – no water can get into the well because, from where you are standing, you can’t see the grill below the water level; it is way above the water level.”
Greaves also raised concerns about culex mosquitoes breeding in the stagnant water: “ I’m trained in this area, so I can tell you what type of mosquitoes; not Aedes aegypti; they don’t breed in stagnant water like this. They will breed in fresh water.”
“Every once in a while I would throw some oil in there, but the little bit of oil that I can put in there,aint gonna really help a lot,” said Alfred Butcher, who has lived in the area for 36 years.
Butcher also questioned the decision to alter the existing drainage system.
“I don’t know where the idea came from, but somebody thought that this is the way to handle this. They got a well that was in operation and was taking off the water. They decided, well, somehow they don’t want the water going to the well, so I don’t know what is the purpose of the well.”
The residents said about 40 truckloads of soil were removed from the area during the work and are calling for the catchment to be backfilled and the water properly channelled to an existing well.
Greaves said: “It needs to be backfilled. Channelise the area to the well again. Clean it up. Open the mouth of the cave, like it was before, to assist with any excess water that might come as a result of the malfunctioning well to the east of First Avenue.
“We have three wells here, one to the back of me, one opposite my house, and that deep one there. The water flows properly. We never had problems..”
Butcher said residents had become frustrated after contacting several government agencies about the situation: “Everybody says it’s not their responsibility. So it don’t come under Housing, don’t come on under NCC. We don’t know who’s responsible, but somebody comes to cut it sometimes. You don’t know when the sometimes will be.”
Husbands told Barbados TODAY that her office had received complaints about the issue and contacted the Drainage Unit.
“With the matter of the pond that was building up at the bottom of Pelican Avenue, we were able to get a hold of the Drainage Unit, and they had one of their technical persons come out and they were able to take a look to assess the problem, to be able to look at where the water is coming from, why it’s not draining off.
“And so, they have gone back to the office to discuss the possible technical approaches that will be needed to address it.”
Husbands said the Drainage Unit would advise her office on the recommended approach once its assessment was complete.
She said she hoped the problem could be resolved as soon as possible.
(LG)
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