New Orleans residents tired of water issues

Residents of New Orleans and surrounding communities are voicing growing frustration over what they describe as never-ending water issues that continue to disrupt their daily lives.

When a team from Barbados TODAY visited the area early Friday, workers from the Barbados Water Authority were seen carrying out repairs on what appeared to be a burst connection.

One male resident said water problems in the area have become the norm.

“This is the entrance to Murphy’s Pasture and there’s a leak there all the time. Don’t care how the government fix it or the waterworks fix it, it just do back like this all the while,” he said.

He explained that additional problems along Sixth Avenue often affect his household’s supply.

“When something goes wrong with the big main, that does shut off my water here through by Emmerton Pasture. It’s a real discomfort,” he added.

The resident also raised concerns about stagnant water and mosquito breeding in the area.

“There is even an area up Murphy’s Pasture where they planted some stuff and in the middle got like a hole, and when the rain falls it harbours water and they does got mosquitoes down here like something else,” he pointed out.

“You see me in my house on a night, I does got to put on a long T-shirt, long pants, pair of socks…all of that kind of thing.”

He further questioned sewerage charges on his bill.

“We’re paying for sewage and the toilet or anything ain’t connected to the sewage, so I does want to know what that money really be for, because it got your bill high and you got regular people suffering,” he argued.

Another resident from Marshall Gap, New Orleans, said the situation has been ongoing for years.

“We are affected by the burst mains not only today, but we have been continuously dealing with it. We’re suspecting it might be old pipes that need to be fixed and replaced,” she said.

She added that the problem has persisted for at least four to five years.

“It has been a constant dilemma. You have constant pools of water. Sometimes you’re walking through it, ankle up in water, and not being able to get in or out of your homes,” she pointed out.

She also shared a recent incident involving her daughter.

“When my daughter came in the day before yesterday, as she got out of the vehicle she nearly slid down in the mud and the moss and the water that was accumulated in front of the house. She already has a back issue,” the resident said.

“So it is very, very bad out here in regards to the water outages and the constant water flowing out of the burst mains and the pipes that we’re having.”