The normally peaceful residential neighborhood of Goodland Gardens in Christ Church has been thrown into turmoil after a 72-year-old local resident, Lolene Rawlins, survived a near-death plunge into an unmarked, uncovered well hidden beneath thick brush in January. Swift emergency response teams ultimately pulled Rawlins from the 87-foot shaft, but the terrifying incident has reignited long-simmering anger among locals over years of unaddressed safety hazards across the area. For decades, residents say, abandoned open wells have been allowed to sit neglected across Goodland Gardens, with repeated warnings about the risk of injury or death falling on deaf ears. Now, after Rawlins’ close call, the community is coming together to demand systemic action before a tragedy occurs. One long-time female resident, still shaken by the event, emphasized that local residents have long been aware of the presence of unmarked wells across the area, and that dangerous close calls have happened repeatedly before. “I walk through that stretch all the time – I could just as easily have been the one who fell,” she said. “This should never have gotten to the point where someone almost died. Fixing the problem doesn’t have to be a complicated, expensive project. We all know these wells exist; the simplest solution is just to secure and cover them. We shouldn’t have to wait for another person to get hurt before someone acts.” Another local resident, Anthony Yearwood, pointed out that at least two additional open wells on the same plot of land where Rawlins fell remain unsecured and exposed to the public. He echoed calls for immediate remediation of these remaining hazards to prevent another incident. For many locals, the danger extends far beyond the single well that caused Rawlins’ fall, pointing to a broader failure of oversight and mapping that has left the community unaware of how many abandoned shafts lie hidden across the area. “I know the area well and I can point out most of the wells here, but this one was completely unknown to me,” explained Christopher Alleyne, another Goodland Gardens resident. “It was hidden completely by overgrown brush. If one can slip past even long-term residents’ knowledge, how many more are out there that we don’t know about?” Alleyne criticized the longstanding pattern of reactive, after-the-fact action on these hazards, warning that this approach will eventually lead to an avoidable death. “It’s always the same story: we wait until something terrible happens, issue a temporary alert, then go back to business as usual until the next incident,” he said. “Next time, we might not get lucky – the victim might not survive to be rescued.” This uncertainty has left everyday life in the neighborhood altered, with residents reporting constant anxiety about moving through green and bushy areas, especially for families with young children. “I definitely feel less safe now, of course you do,” Alleyne said. “Kids run around, fly kites, play in the brush all the time. We have no idea where all these hidden wells are, so no one can warn the children away.” While some local residents have taken matters into their own hands, launching independent efforts to locate, map and mark abandoned wells across the neighborhood, the community is unified in calling for national-level coordination, clear regulatory accountability, and a formal plan to address the hazard across the country. “There should be a central registry of these abandoned wells somewhere, so authorities and residents know where they are,” Alleyne argued. “Right now, no one seems to know who is actually in charge of securing these sites. Where do we even go to report this? Are we just supposed to sit and wait for the next casualty?” Despite widespread frustration with the lack of prior action, Alleyne also emphasized that community members have a role to play in solving the problem, urging locals to move past complaining and get involved. “Instead of just sitting back and talking about the issue, everyone can do their small part,” he said, encouraging residents to report potential hazards they find and work together to map unrecorded shafts. In the immediate aftermath of Rawlins’ fall in January, workers from Barbados’ Ministry of Transport and Works attended the site to secure the well with temporary plywood barriers, and a permanent perimeter gate has now been installed around the opening. However, Transport Minister Kirk Humphrey has not yet responded to requests for comment on broader plans to address unmarked wells across Goodland Gardens or the wider area. For residents of the shaken community, the clock is already ticking. With multiple unsecured hazards still unaddressed and unknown wells potentially scattered across the neighborhood, locals say another incident could end in death – and there is no more time to wait.