This morning, a Facebook post from a resident of Trio Village, located in northern Toledo got a lot of traction. The concerned citizen expressed concern that several hundred primary and high school students were trapped in the village and couldn't attend classes.
That's because the teachers could not commute to the village to lead classes at the primary school, and the high school students couldn't make it to Independence Village. And they couldn't travel because the rainy weather made the already terrible main road nearly impassable. This evening, residents tell us that a truck driver and his trailer got trapped on the road, and it caused a temporary blockage.
One resident who has been living there for over three decades spoke with us this evening via Zoom from her home in Trio. Here's how she explained that this stretch of road has been made unserviceable by over-use and a serial lack of attention:
Deysi Hernandez - Trio Resident
"I travel every day. Usually, I take thirty minutes, but now, I take 40 or 50 minutes to reach to Independence Village, and yes, the school bus was unable to come in today with the teachers. Also, the students from high school were unable to attend - well, some of them were able to attend high school because the bus didn't come for them. For them to go by taxi, it's 12 dollars, and not all parents have that money to pay. A lot of them were unable to attend school. We have a lot of farmers here who sell their products outside of the village, and it's very rough for them to go out."
Daniel Ortiz
"We understand that some 350 students couldn't make it to school today because of the bad road."
Deysi Hernandez
"Yes, about 400 or more students from the village. We don't even have a chairperson in the village at this moment. The chairman went to live in Independence. Mike Espat has been the area rep., for a number of years, and nothing has been done; the same thing with the UDP."
Daniel Ortiz
"Is it overuse and no one has repaired it? Or is it that no one has repaired it as frequently as it needs?"
Deysi Hernandez
"[It's] both of them because we have some companies that do construction, and we have a quarry right here in the village. So, they come and take materials, but no one demands some help from them. So, they just come, take the resources, and they don't give anything to the community. Same thing [happened] with the banana farms, they used the road, but they don't help to fix the road."
The residents hope that the government, specifically the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, will take notice and help alleviate the transport difficulties that occur whenever it rains in the village.
