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On Monday, Tabaquite resident Johnny Donaldson spoke to Newsday about a mudslide threatening to isolate residents in the area. Photo by Marvin Hamilton

A mudslide is threatening to isolate the community of Guaracara/Tabaquite along the 19 Ml Mark. The mudslide is believed to have been triggered by quarrying on private lands, which reportedly damaged a WASA reservoir, further saturating the land, already soaked by the constant rain.

There is suspicion that the flow of water is undermining an old landslip obliquely opposite the mudslide, making the passage doubly dangerous for commuters and drivers.

For the past two months, road users claim the Ministry of Works has been clearing the mud off the road, to allow the passage of at least one lane of traffic – a nightmare for those who traverse the area. They want a more permanent solution before they are completely cut off.

One resident, who chose not to be identified, said within the past three weeks, the mud was cleared. But she said last Friday there was another big slide, leaving a gaping hole which villagers filled to prevent further movement.

“This morning it was real bad. There is a spring on the hill, and it seems as though the spring burst, so water (is) coming down here and on the (retaining) wall on the other side. Eventually, if nothing is done, that whole wall will come down.”

On Monday, motorists, including a T&TEC and police vehicle, carefully navigated the Guaracara/Tabaquite Road as the roadway has been narrowed to a single lane owing to a mudslide. – Photo by Marvin Hamilton

Resident Johnny Donaldson said while he appreciates the clearing of the mud, “My concern is that no one in authority is telling us what they intend to do to permanently solve the problem.

“I pass here several times for the month, but it is the schoolchildren and working people who are suffering daily.”

Esther James, 22, said residents staged a protest in September, but that did nothing to alleviate the problem.

“This is ridiculous. Somebody has to do something to remove this stuff off the road, because the cars dragging on the road. You don’t know where to pass and it looking like this road is going to break off just now. It is just getting worse. “

Tabaquite MP Anita Haynes said when people leave home on mornings, they are not sure of a safe passage when they return. She said containers used as offices on the site are also under threat of sliding down onto the road, and called on the owner to secure their property before this results in another major disaster.

She said there is an alternative road through Piaparo, which is also in a terrible condition, and another through Gran Couva to get to San Fernando.

“This would add 45 more minutes to the commute, and with the increase in the price of fuel, not a feasible option in terms of time or economics.”

She called for a long-term solution instead of just clearing the road. and for people to be held accountable for their actions.

“There must be consequences to pay, and agencies tasked with monitoring activities for which they give permission must monitor to ensure what has been requested is what is actually being done. Especially when it affects the public.”

Haynes explained several months ago, when a private developer began quarrying, informal discussions were held when the movement of the land was first observed.

Newsday visited the Guaracara Tabaquite Road on Monday. The roadway has been narrowed to a single lane owing to a mudslide. – Photo by Marvin Hamilton

She subsequently wrote to Planning and Development Minister Penelope Beckles on September 29, telling her of the danger, inconvenience suffered by her constituents, and asking for a long-term solution and an investigation into the quarrying.

The letter was copied to the ministries of Works and Transport, Rural Development and Local Government, Energy, Town and Country Planning, Environmental Authority and the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation.

“I have received no formal communication, but I understand an investigation has begun with respect to the quarrying. It is a multi-sectoral approach involving the police and the various agencies I have written to.”

She said she received calls on Monday from parents who had to take their children back home, as a maxi-taxi transporting them had to turn back because the road was too difficult to manoeuvre.

Drivers passing in smaller vehicles agreed to take some of the children to school.

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A St Elizabeth man who was found in the company of Anthony Angus, who was one of St James’ most wanted men, was last week freed of a charge of harbouring a fugitive.

Orane Watson, a resident of Burnt Savannah in St Elizabeth, appeared in the St Elizabeth Parish Court to answer to the charge.

Prosecutors, however, conceded that there was no evidence from the statements that were collected by the police that suggested Watson had any knowledge of Angus being wanted by the police in connection with serious criminal offences.

The presiding judge subsequently freed Watson.

He was arrested on Friday, October 7 at a house in Burnt Savannah where the police also found Angus, who had been featured in the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) ‘Wanted Wednesdays’ social media campaign two days earlier.

It was reported that a team from the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigations Branch (C-TOC) swooped down on the house and, realising that he was surrounded by highly trained operatives, Angus surrendered.

Watson was also arrested and later charged with harbouring a fugitive, for which he was subsequently freed.

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Dr. Ernest Hilaire, Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information Minister, says the promotors of the just-ended Onyx concert will have to account for an open-carry firearm on stage.

He told reporters on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting on Monday that the police took a position that they were not approving the concert.

The event became controversial after a man with a gun appeared on stage.

Images of the gun-toting man, identified by organisers as one of their contracted security guards from the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF), have been circulating on social media.

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Organisers have since apologised and said the man decided to have an open-carry weapon on stage.

Hilaire told reporters the gun was not an ordinary firearm and said he had no information regarding whether the weapon had been authorised.

But he said he knew what he saw on stage and the photos people overseas saw and sent back to Saint Lucia.

“We need to ask some serious questions. As far as I knew, the police took a position that they were not approving the show because the individual in question is someone who has been involved in singing, and promoting music that glorifies crime and gun violence. And I know because I was in discussion with the police force,” the Castries South MP stated.

“The police were very clear that they were not going to approve it on the grounds of national security and events security,’ he explained.

According to Hilaire, the police saw the event as a threat to the fight against gang crime and as a threat to the event itself because they were not satisfied that security was fully in place.

“And that was four thirty on Friday,” the Deputy Prime Minister recalled.

He told reporters that after that decision, somebody approved the event.

“We need to know who is that somebody and under what circumstances they approved it,” the Minister asserted.

“What assurances were given to that individual to make that decision?” Hilaire told reporters.

He also asked if someone overturned the decision, whether it was because of being misled.

Hilaire declared that the police have established that once someone promotes or signs songs glorifying violence, they will not be allowed to perform in Saint Lucia.

In addition, he questioned who authorised the individual with the firearm to be on stage and whether the promotor informed the police.

According to Hilaire, Saint Lucia’s creative space cannot have individuals with open-carry firearms on stage.

He disclosed that Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, as Minister of National Security, would decide to find out what happened.

Hilaire said if a promotor misled the police, there would be a need for a serious discussion regarding that promoter’s role within Saint Lucia’s creative space.

“To say to me as the promotors did, it was incident free – so what is incident free? You mean there was no shoot-out, and therefore, it was a success?” Hilaire told reporters.

And he declared that someone on stage with an open-carry firearm constitutes an incident.

“It was pointed at the crowd. What if people had rushed the stage what would have happened? Would you have shot the crowd?”

“Why was it necessary for an open-carry firearm on stage?” Hilaire said.

He said somebody needs to account for that.

“The promotors who were involved in this will have to account,” Hilaire declared.

The event on Saturday at the Daren Sammy Cricket Grounds in Beausejour, Gros Islet, featured  artistes including Jamaican Dance Hall performer Skillibeng, alongside Saint Lucia’s leading stars and Dennery Segment artistes like Ezra De Fun Machine, Hollywood HP, Cooyah Fyah and Sean.

Headline photo from social media.

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