As the flood damage and needs assessment continues on the Essequibo island of Wakenaam, the contractor who has accepted partial blame, Deowdat Singh, has donated some $500,000 to the San Souci Sunnatul Jamaat Mosque, which was adversely affected.
Guyana Times understands that members of the masjid, which is in front of the breached sea defence, received a cheque from the contractor pre-dated for next month, and they were appreciative, since it would assist in replacing the wall-to-wall carpet that was immersed in three feet of salt water which came rushing in during the spring tide on Sunday.
This newspaper was, however, told that total damage to the concrete building built
Scenes from last Sunday’s flooding
in the 1960s was estimated at $1.5 million.
Wakenaam Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Chairman Sheik Amad told this publication on Wednesday that operatives at the NDC were continuing to assess the sea defence structure to ensure that no further seepage was observed. He added that residents were still in the process of cleaning up. Speaking on compensation for those severely affected, Amad stressed that the contractor would meet with them in the coming days.
“He will visit each of the 12 homes next week and donate based on the assessment,” the Chairman observed.
Residents in Melville and Sans Souci woke up to flooding on Sunday, which resulted in damage to appliances, carpets, and other household items. Many officials, including Regional Executive Officer (REO) Denis Jaikarran and the NDC Chairman have contended that the flooding came as a result of negligence on the part of the contractor. However, Singh was quoted in the press as saying that the situation was being “grossly exaggerated” even though he was taking responsibility. In fact, he claimed that the sea defence did not suffer a breach, but rather the tide was “too high”, noting that it exceeded what they were expecting and they had not catered for such height.
Guyana Times reported that some two weeks ago, construction began on a rip-rap seawall at the back of Sans Souci Mosque, but the structure started seeping last week Tuesday and the contractor was called in to do remedial work.
REO Jaikarran and a team from the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) visited the area to assess the situation on Sunday, and together facilitated distribution of hampers to residents which included disinfectant, bleach and other cleaning materials.
