Frustrated over thick dust blowing from an unpaved road in their area, Woodland residents yesterday staged a protest, calling on the Government for help. The residents said they have been suffering from skin rashes, throat infections, and breathing difficulty because of the excessive dust.
The dust has been billowing from an unpaved agricultural access road which has been under construction for the past few months. The road is a direct link from Woodland to the M2 Ring Road.
Two schools in the area—the Woodland Hindu School and the Woodland Preschool, have also been affected. While some residents have opted to evacuate their homes, other residents said they have had no choice but to block the road using mounds of mud.
Spokesman Korisha Lotawan, 29, said her six children Priya, 15, Tara, 13, Rianna, 12, Ria, seven, Dave, 10 and Angeli, aged two, have been falling ill because of the dust.
“You cannot walk here when cars pass on that road because the entire area gets white with the dust. I don’t know what to do. We have complained to the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation but nothing has been done,” Lotawan said.
Geeta Basdeo, who operates a fruit stall, said she has lost thousands of dollars in produce because of the dust.
“People don’t want to stop here and buy anything because it so dusty. I have to dump all my goods and that is my loss. I really don’t know what to do. I want the government or anybody in authority to please look into this problem,” Basdeo said. Anju Gangaram-Mungal, who owns Mungals’ Bar, also said she has been forced to close down her businessplace. “It is impossible to operate business. We putting up with this dust problem for more than two months and we cannot take this anymore.”
Councillor for La Fortune/Woodland Sheldon Lal said the road fell under the jurisdiction of the Estate Management and Business Development Corporation (EMBD).
“There is nothing the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation can do. I made calls to the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Rural Development but I have not received any answers,” Lal said. Asked whether the corporation could wet the road to keep down the dust, Lal said the current water crisis will make that difficult.
Efforts to contact Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat and Rural Development Minister Franklin Khan for comment proved futile as calls to their cellular phones went unanswered yesterday.