EMMA Mohammed, 50, said her family's house at Pluck Road/Santa Cecelia Trace is not a ruinous structure. She made this comment on Friday, in response to statements made by the Works and Transport Ministry and Oropouche West MP Dave Tancoo about the physical state of the house being the reason why repair work on a nearby landslip has not started as yet.
The house is owned by Mohammed's parents, Ramhit and Marilyn Narine. Mohammed said, 43 years ago, her parents bought the land which the house occupies. The family's first house was built there in 1984. That house was rebuilt in 2015.
In an interview with Newsday last February, the Narines said pipelines burst in the road very often and the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) responded very slowly to the problem. The water runs to the back of their house and sometimes causes flooding.
Mohammed said the situation last year caused the house to tilt. Despite this, she maintained neither her parents, her husband Cedric, her sister, her sister's husband and their three children had any fear for their safety.
"Our house is not a ruinous structure."
According to Section 176 of the Municipal Corporations Act, an engineer assigned to a local government corporation can classify a structure which is unfit for use or occupation. Such structures are defined as ruinous. Directives can subsequently be given to the owners of such structures to demolish, secure, repair or rebuild part or all of that structure.
[caption id="attachment_965296" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The home of the Narines on Pluck Road, San Francique. - Marvin Hamilton[/caption]
Mohammed said engineers from the Siparia Regional Corporation visited the family's home in late May/early June. They found no evidence to suggest the structure could be classified as ruinous.
She recalled that when Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan visited the area on May 18, he spoke with her family and was told about the damage which the landslip caused to their house.
Mohammed said Sinanan told them that work on the nearby landslip would start in two weeks.
She was disappointed that no repairs to the road had started as yet.
"The road is impassable."
Mohammed appealed to the relevant authorities to "act and do what is right." She also said relocation was not an option for her family.
"We have nowhere else to go."
On Tuesday, Tancoo and Avocat/San Francique North councillor Doodnath Mayrhoo called on Sinanan to fix the landslip at Pluck Road/ Santa Cecelia Trace. Tancoo showed Newsday copies of letters between the Rural Development and Local Government Ministry and the Siparia Regional Corporation about one house along Santa Cecelia Trace which had suffered structural damage.
He claimed there was an attempt to classify that house as a ruinous structure so the Works and Transport Ministry would not have to compensate its owners for damages caused by the landslip.
The documents he provided showed that the corporation's engineering and survey officer had visited and assessed the building but di
