Police and fire officers had to be called in early yesterday morning, after residents of St Barb's Road, Belmont, staged a fiery protest over the condition of the roadway in the area.

The residents burnt old barrels, bed springs and kitchen sinks, blocking the road, near the corner of St Barb's Road and the top of Carr Street, as they claimed the failure of WASA to complete a pipe-laying project was causing them much distress.

And yesterday evening, after getting a promise of action from MP Ni Leung Hypolite and WASA, one resident confirmed that the contractors had begun fixing the road.

Earlier, armed police officers had to push their way through the crowd of angry residents to allow fire officers to put out the fires.

Speaking with the media, Earl Morris, a taxi-driver and resident of the area, expressed the frustration of the residents.

"People on the hill-we are suffering, we fed up, we suffering too long. We give WASA enough time; we need to have our road fixed now."

He said people are forced to come outside at one and two o'clock in the morning to wet the road in front of their homes so they could sleep. Morris said WASA had been promising to fix the road for weeks but had failed to deliver.

"We want assurance that WASA coming to fix this mess. If we do not get any results today, we will protest and protest until we get results. Is time they come and work until this project is finished."

When Hypolite and councillor for the area Joel London visited the area during the heated protest, residents demanded answers from them both.

London said he was doing all he could, but noted WASA was responsible for the situation. Hypolite reiterated London's point, but pleaded with residents to work with him to get the situation rectified.

"I understand that they are frustrated because it has been over a year since WASA laid pipes and they have not restored the roads to a satisfactory condition," Hypolite said.

"But I ask the people to allow me to work on this for them. Let WASA do their part and allow me to liaise with WASA to find out exactly what is happening."

Hypolite said he had spoken to the acting chairman of the San Juan Laventille Corporation, who assured him he would send one of his staff members to see how best they could alleviate the problem.

In a release yesterday, WASA said the project, which began in May 2007, was started as a pipeline construction project under the National Social Development Programme (NSDP).

"This project is currently ongoing, and in an effort to minimise the discomfort experienced by residents, the authority commenced road restoration work. Road restoration works have been intensified and will be treated with urgency until the completion of the project."

WASA apologised for the inconvenience experienced by residents.