The Christmas celebrations for residents of Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam)
One pump in operation at Lima, Essequibo Coast
were halted owing to floodwaters flowing into homes.
Christmas morning found many residents draining and bailing water out from their lower flats owing to excessive rainfall and poor drainage and irrigation within the Region.
Despite numerous complaints made by residents of Lima, Hampton Court, Devonshire Castle and Windsor Castle to the Region Two Administration, many houses and rice fields remain inundated with water.
Residents have since become frustrated as they feel that their concerns are treated as irrelevant by authorities as they are losing thousands daily.
Residents of Lima during interviews told this publication that they are very concerned that the Lima outfalls remain clogged.
Meanwhile, Region Two Chairman Devanand Ramdatt, who was seen on site, said that he continues to monitor the drainage system and make necessary recommendations to the Regional Executive Officer (REO) and engineers.
Ramdatt said he has visited several areas where pumps and sluices were inspected. He added that he has observed that several outfalls were clogged.
“Recommendations were made to authorities (including the REO) through numerous emails to have the pontoon and excavators removed from Capoey, moved to Lima then travelled to Hampton Court, then Windsor Castle clearing outfalls, hence assisting in the draining of water from residents’ land,” Ramdatt said. Ramdatt said it was very unfortunate that delays have prevented one day’s work which resulted in more residents being under water. He, however, promised that the findings from his visits would be communicated to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) since the pontoon and two excavators were contracted by the Authority to clear outfalls.
Currently, the sluice at Plantation Andrews is inoperable on account of a door, which became defective some two weeks. This is said to be creating additional pressure on the Westbury sluice.
Visits to the pump stations revealed that fuel continues to be supplied late which is preventing long hours of pumping water from the land.
When asked about the status of the pumps, the Chairman said three of the six pumps needed repairing.
He said at Cozier close to the Pomeroon areas, two pumps are presently working, while at Charity, the pump is not functioning. At Devonshire Castle, one out of two pumps is working. In villages such as Hampton Court, Lima, Anna Regina, Three Friends and Capoey, one pump is working. The pump at Taymouth Manor is also reportedly not working.
