Horse Hill residents fed up after days with no water

Residents of Horse Hill, St Joseph say days with absolutely no water have left them feeling tired, fed up and frustrated.

The residents say they have had enough and it is time something is done about the situation. For some, it has been seven days without water while for others it has been close to two weeks.

This morning the residents gathered on the street with a basket full of dirty clothes and empty pots and bottles to express their frustration.

Some also stood in front of the constituency office of Attorney General Dale Marshall, parliamentary representative for that parish, chanting: “We want water”.

Phyllis Cumberbatch, who has been living in the area for the past 32-years, told Barbados TODAY she could not make a cup of tea and has been unable to have a shower.

“I gotta get up and look for water to clean myself. I wash my face up the road this morning with a pep bottle of water that was given to me.

“I ain’t even drank a cup of tea yet this morning because there is no water. I could not even cook food since Thursday because I have no water. I have to resort to bread and drink,” Cumberbatch said.

As a small farmer, Cumberbatch said her livestock such as pigs, chickens and rabbits are all suffering. She is also unable to wet her vegetable beds and the recent ashfall has left her house in need of cleaning.

“Even if I could get a bucket full of water just to give the animals, you can’t suffer the animals. They can’t get up and go get water for themselves. I gotta get up and go look for water for them,” Cumberbatch added.

Many of the residents are asking why it is that they are not hearing from parliamentary representative Dale Marshall about the water situation.

Politician Randall Rouse, who ran on the Democratic Labour Party ticket for three consecutive terms, was present to listen to the residents.

Daniel Grant, a young mother, is also fed up with the situation and said it has been going on for a very long time. She noted that the people of that area continue to suffer every year for water.

“This is a whole seven days we ain’t had water. The water trucks just bypass all the tanks on the road. Our tank only got full twice since this water situation has been going on. They claim the trucks for this area break down.

“What everyone keeps quarrelling about too is that the man from the Barbados Water Authority said he ain’t giving us water because we were wasting the water. We keep calling the water authority and all they keep saying is that they are sending a truck.

“Since Dale won he ain’t come down here. Everything in Bathsheba is getting renewed.  They are building over stalls, a community centre that nobody cares about us. He doesn’t care that we ain’t getting water,” Grant said.