Spanish
Los Alcarrizos. – Desperation has seized the residents of the Sábica sector, on Caridad del Respaldo 15 street, where a completely blocked-up canal has generated a health and environmental emergency.
According to community members, they have been fighting for more than five years without success for a definitive solution to this source of diseases, pollution and danger.
The neighbors claim that the gully overflows every time it rains, flooding the homes and turning the streets into rivers of black water and mud. The situation has forced several families to abandon their homes, while fear increases for the spread of diseases and for the safety of the children.
“We have an unbearable mosquito infestation. My mother, who is diabetic, we had to send her to San Francisco de Macorís because she can't be here. We have gone to all possible institutions, but no one listens to us. What we want is for them to unclog the canal and end this contamination that is destroying our lives,” stated Rosana Salazar.
During the rains, the gully exceeds the street level, which represents a direct risk to students of a nearby educational center. The community has had to assist the children to cross between the water, mud and garbage, while they fear that a tragedy will occur.
"When the children leave school, the street is completely flooded. We ourselves have to help them cross. This is an emergency. If they don't do something, something catastrophic will happen, and then everyone will come to take pictures. We don't want that. We want them to act now," said Marcia, another resident.
In addition to the external overflow, the effects of the collapse of the ravine are felt inside the homes.
"I live on the second floor, and when it rains, the toilet sends back black water. When you try to flush it, the water rises with a bad smell. This is hell, even in our homes we are trapped by this situation," denounced a community member.
They claim to have paid with their own resources to try to uncover the ravine, without achieving results.
"Three men entered last week and we couldn't do anything. That can't be solved with shovels or hands anymore, that has to be done with heavy machinery. We can't do any more on our own," added another neighbor.
"The situation is unbearable. When it rains, no one sleeps peacefully. We have children who can slip and fall, sick people who can't breathe with the stench, and a plague of mosquitoes that won't let us live," expressed Geraldina Cuevas. She made a direct appeal to President Luis Abinader to pay attention to what this community is experiencing.
The residents of the Sábica sector reiterated their urgent call to the Los Alcarrizos City Council, the Ministry of Public Health, CAASD, and Public Works to intervene before the situation claims human lives. They are asking for the cleaning and channeling of the ravine, immediate fumigation, and comprehensive attention to a crisis that they claim has left them completely helpless.
