THA Division of Infrastructure, Quarries and Urban Development employees were hard at work on July 2 clearing a portion of the L’Anse Fourmi/Charlotteville Link Road, on Tobago’s northside, which became impassable when Hurricane Beryl blew past the island on July 1.
Beryl’s powerful winds downed trees, concrete utility poles and electricity lines, and since then commuters have had to use alternative routes to and from both villages and other parts of the region.
Schools in the area were also affected by the lack of electricity. On July 1, the Division of Education announced that all ECCE, primary and secondary schools in the electoral district of Parlatuvier/L'Anse Fourmi/Speyside would be closed until further notice. Pentecostal Light and Life Foundation High School, Scarborough was also closed until further notice.
When Newsday visited the area around 10.30 am on July 2, workers were using power saws and other tools to cut the branches of the large trees that had fallen onto the road. A backhoe operator cleared debris from part of the road so that vehicles could drive through.
Works supervisor Dave Hackett said the road should be fully cleared before the end of the week.
“Right now you could hardly pass, because lots of trees and lines came down. T&TEC have a lot of work to do on this road,” he said.
Hackett said power was lost in several communities along the Northside Road.
“But it took two days to come back. It went away the morning of the storm and it come back very late last night.”
At the time of Newsday’s visit, he said L’Anse Fourmi did not have electricity.
A T&TEC report on July 2 said electricity had been restored to 95 per cent of affected customers. but power was not yet available in L'Anse Fourmi, Moriah, Goodwood, Mt St George, Argyle and Belle Garden. T&TEC blamed a landslide for the continued outage in L'Anse Fourmi but said crews from Trinidad would be arriving to assist in restoration efforts.
[caption id="attachment_1093937" align="alignnone" width="768"] Works supervisor Dave Hackett - Photo by Corey Connelly[/caption]
Hackett said T&TEC should cut the trees in and around people’s homes when they are running lines.
“I have a problem with T&TEC. They are coming through people’s place to run lines, and there are trees to be cut, and I am gathering that they do not come in people place and cut trees. But they have lines running in people place, and that is causing a problem.
“Because right now I am having that problem by me.”
Hackett said several groups of workers were required to clear the Northside Road.
“I am one of the supervisors. I run a gang here. I control three teams here. So I come here to see that they work with these guys.”
He said the workers have been putting in long hours.
“The work change because of the disaster. The workers have to work very late to get this place clear up. But if they don’t want to do that, they get paid accordingly for how they work.”
Hackett said he had never experienced the effects of a category-four
