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Wismar Street becomes a nightmare

Mar 13, 2011 News

Gardenia Street, Linden, is impassable, with huge water filled craters. Ingress and egress is a nightmare for residents.
Taxis blatantly refuse to enter the street, and residents are forced to ‘play hop scotch’ to navigate the stretch of road, which some have described as a dam.
“We’re fed up, frustrated and totally dissatisfied!” was the general refrain of the residents, who have condemned the works of three contractors, who have been engaged in building two concrete drains measuring some eleven hundred feet along the shoulders of the road.
After completing the drains, rehabilitation and resurfacing of the street were to be the next step.
The project which began last November and was expected to last three weeks has now run into five months with no completion date in sight.
“Now if they can’t complete two simple drains, is when they gon do the roads? We suffering, some of us have to fetch our children out of the street.”
And at nights, many people have resorted to using a shortcut, which is bushy and not safe; but to them it is better than risking falling in the craters,” a frustrated resident vented.
Meanwhile debris and mud from the drains litter the roadway; and the prevailing rainy season has only added to the further deterioration of the thoroughfare.
Residents said they were elated when works began on the drains. They knew that the road which had deteriorated badly over the years and had never been upgraded would be next. However their joy was short-lived, as they were soon faced with a road that would become a ‘never ending nightmare’.
They have described the work executed on the drains as totally substandard and unacceptable. “The blocks these people use to construct these drains, are totally substandard- my little grandson could easily crush one with his bare hands, and they are not even properly reinforcing the blocks with concrete, when they lay them.
“I think the residents of this street could have done a better job! Persons further reported that the contractors cut down on the amount of materials used to construct the drains, in order to make some money on the side by selling the very materials (sand and cement).”
Apart from the present drains under construction, another drain was dug across the street to facilitate water flow. Residents said that they were told that a culvert would have been constructed, but to date that has not been done.
Two pieces of wood were placed over that drain for residents to cross.
“If somebody was to get seriously sick here at nights no ambulance or taxi would come in here- that person would probably die, for lack of medical attention.
Right now we don’t know who to talk to; is a real terrible situation. The last contractor ain’t put in an appearance for the week, so we in limbo”, a peeved resident pointed out.
Gardenia Street is located in Wismar/ Christianburg. It intersects with Water Lily Road (Poker Street) It was one of the streets earmarked for rehabilitation, during the last Cabinet outreach to Linden.
Residents said that they were told by the contractors, “We save the best for last- y’all gon get what the rest ain’t get!” (Enid Joaquin)

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