BARNSTAPLE, Trelawny — Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC) officials are expected to visit distraught family members of 72-year-old Carol Brissett who last week succumbed to injuries he sustained after falling into a recently cleared drain here.

“We intend to visit members of the family to personally express our heartfelt condolence on the passing of their loved one. It is such so unfortunate,” mayor of Falmouth and TMC Chairman Councillor C Junior Gager said.

Brissett was left paralysed from the waist down on March 23 after he fell into the drain which runs parallel to the section of his premises he used as an entrance.

Family and some residents have since accused TMC of negligence, a claim that has been staunchly rejected by the corporation.

Among those who levelled the blame at TMC was Brissett’s daughter Maxine who recently flew into the island from her home in England to attend to her father’s medical needs.

“I am also very, very angry because concerns were raised and my dad foresaw the danger. He raised his concerns continually,” she told reporters.

But Gager said that the drain has been in existence for decades and was cleared about two months ago by workmen from National Works Agency (NWA).

At the time, the NWA workmen reportedly removed a makeshift bridge which Brissett had used to cross the drain into his premises and was said to have been cautioned about the danger in doing so.

“The NWA went out there to clean that drain which feeds into the main drain. It’s always best to clean that drain. When we went out there we saw material that were used as a bridge and that material was taken away, and it was pointed out to him that it wasn’t safe. I would believe he was crossing without the [makeshift] bridge there; further up, the original road to his house is there. But I want to say we’re very, very sorry. It is very sad,” Gager told reporters.

Brissett’s neighbour, Marian Allen, also noted that the senior citizen expressed concerns about the danger posed after the drain was cleaned.

“He wasn’t here when it was done and when he came back, he raised concerns. He wanted to build a bridge where he could pass because that was his main gate, but that never happened. He fell in it before he could do that,” Allen said.

Vashtilyn Galloway, another resident, said it is ironic that Brissett was trying to get the bridge built but died before his wish could come to fruition.

“To know that he was fighting for it and made multiple trips to the parish council, and they rejected it. It is sad to know that that is what come and take his life like that. I wasn’t expecting him to die that way so it’s traumatising for me,” Galloway said.

Another resident, Norman Powell, concurred.

“The last time he went there [municipal corporation] he said he was told he couldn’t build a bridge there. Maybe if they gave him the go-ahead to build the bridge he would not drop in there,” Powell said.

But the TMC’s Chief Executive Officer Winston Palmer corroborated the mayor’s argument that there would not be any need to construct a bridge over the drain to Brissett’s premises as there is an existing parochial road from which he should access his premises.

“That drain is an existing earth drain and has been there for decades so the area in question is not an area where one would use for access to your home. There is a parochial road where the proper entrance to the homes along that stretch can get persons into their homes without trying to cross that earth drain. That earth drain is very important in the sense that it prevents flooding of the roadway, which would also impact the main road that is nearby,” Palmer said as he extended condolence to Brissett’s family.

“He was using a temporary bridge of which he was warned that he should not do because it is dangerous, and apparently he resorted to same and this unfortunate incident occurred where he has lost his life. And again, I also would like to extend condolence to the family and friends of the deceased,” Palmer said.

“The drain was cleaned about two months ago. When the drain is not there and flooding occurs, people complain. With the rainy season coming up our drains have to be maintained, they have to be cleaned from time to time. On the other hand, if you don’t clean the drain and there is flooding and a child is washed away, or somebody drown, that’s another problem — so this drain will have to be cleaned in the future too because there is a responsibility to clean the drain,” he said.