No materials to fix wells!

The National Housing Corporation simply did not have the money nor the materials available to repair the well where Kyrique Boyce lost his life.

The 17-year-old died this afternoon after falling into the 100-feet well situated at #16 Martin Road, Pine, St Michael.

Irate residents complained to Barbados TODAY, that for over a year they had repeatedly called the National Housing Corporation (NHC) to fix that particular well along with several others.

A resident looking into the 100-feet well into which Kyrique Boyce fell.

However, Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Lands Charles Griffith revealed that a lack of financial resources had hampered the ministry’s efforts.

Griffith, who visited the family of the deceased this afternoon, promised that action would be taken.

“We have taken stock at what is happening at that location and the other locations and I could assure all of those residents who are living in those housing estates that we will rectify the situation as soon as possible.

“We have been cash-strapped for a while as it relates to dealing with issues like this but we understand the significance of fixing these wells. It is unfortunate that this situation would have happened today, but the NHC and the ministry are actively on the job dealing with the situation,” Griffith said.

An employee at the NHC’s depot in the Pine and Wildey, told Barbados TODAY the NHC simply did not have the materials available to repair them.

“We have had some problems with this well and other wells. We were supposed to do these wells but materials were slow in coming and that is the problem.

“In years gone by, when we wanted materials we would have it stored at the depot, but now we have to order it and it does not come swiftly. Sometimes it takes two or three weeks to come and that is the problem we are having,” he said.

When asked if residents had been asking the NHC to repair the damaged wells in the area for the past few months, the supervisor responded, “Months? They’ve been complaining for years, but I only took over in October and I’ve been trying to get a lot of things done which had not been done over the years,” he added.

However, he said repairs on the well would begin as soon as possible tomorrow morning.

He said overnight the well would be properly covered to prevent any other accidents.

However, he explained that the NHC would have some difficulty in reaching some of the wells, as residents had built structures in some instances which prevented them from gaining access.

He suggested that most of the wells in the Pine should be abandoned and new wells should be constructed.