Vaz urges authorities to address water, road issues in East Portland communities

Member of Parliament for East Portland, Ann-Marie Vaz, is expressing frustration that prolonged dust nuisance, absence of piped water and bad road conditions continue to plague residents of Fairy Hill and surrounding communities.

In a press release today, Vaz said, “It is most disappointing that little attention has been given to this matter by the parties that can assist in a resolve. To be quite frank, it is beyond disappointing and quite alarming that while there are contracts valued in excess of a billion dollars, road maintenance is at a standstill and residents are still being subjected to these unfavourable road conditions, especially motorists and other route travellers.”

This morning, residents blocked roads in protest of the issues.

Vaz is calling on the National Water Commission (NWC) to advise citizens on the state of the water supply and to provide sustained trucking of water during drought.

NWC promised to restore water supply to communities served by the Fairy Hill Well Facility in Portland by tomorrow, noting that it was having problems with the chlorinator pump at the facility, which is critical to the water treatment process.

The NWC added that it has been trucking water to the affected areas in the interim, which include Fairy Hill, Fairy Housing Scheme, Fairy Gardens, Boston and Zion Hill.  

Vaz is all urging China Harbour Engineering Company, contractors for the road construction, to start putting measures in place to increase trucking by a minimum of two each per section to wet the road in an effort to alleviate the dust nuisance in the area.

“It is affecting essential services, schools, hospitals, the business community, households and tourism interests. It is a crisis that the communities are facing due to an unprecedented and sustained drought. I am urging the National Water Commission, NWA and China Harbour Engineering Company and its sub-contractors to respond to our call for a resolve,” said the MP.

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