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IT has been almost two years since the plunging landslip at Begesse Street in Poole Village, Rio Claro, first began swallowing parts of the rural roadway frequented by a community of farmers. By last May the landslip had deteriorated so significantly that concerned residents and farmers protested, calling for Government intervention, fearing that they would soon be cut off from the rest of the country.

Eight months have passed since that protest, and community members have sought to solve the problem on their own, purchasing wood from a local sawmill to prop the gaping slippage and allow their vehicles to pass. To date, they told the Express yesterday, the slippage has only worsened.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said villagers had grown frustrated with a delayed response, noting that some farmers had found it difficult to navigate the uneven roadway, even with high vehicles. Some, he said, had no way of transporting their crops to be sold, as even the propped slippage had begun to drop further and further as heavier vehicles passed on it.