Residents on the Essequibo Island of Leguan in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) are now cleaning up their homes and counting their losses after they were flooded out on Friday.
The ripped out koker door at Amsterdam, Leguan
According to information reaching this publication, the Leguan – Endeavour Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) reportedly gave permission to the farmers to open the koker doors to irrigate their farmlands and that was done during the high tide on Friday.
A resident of the island, Ravi, told Guyana Times that the farmers opened the koker doors sometime during the day on Friday despite residents warning against it. He related that the farmers would usually do that during the dry season so they can irrigate their lands and save their crops.
A flooded yard
“Them man does open the koker door when them nah get water at the back there. Every time them open the door somebody always getting flood out. Is nah even two good week now since the last time we get flood out and yet them man nah learn. The NDC does let them do what they want too and them nah care about nobody else,” he said.
The Civil Defence Commission said it received reports that several communities in Leguan were flooded as a result of multiple kokers being breached. The impacted communities include Blenheim, Success, and Amsterdam.
The water rose as high as three feet in some areas, causing major damages to residents and farmers alike.
Former NDC Councillor Amjad Shaw said that the situation is better now since engineers from the Regional Administration along with the Drainage and Irrigation Authority and the Public Infrastructure Ministry, came and made repairs.
“Leguan is a declared drainage area and whenever there is a need to irrigate, farmers would go and take out the door and raise it up so we would always have this problem. It is an ongoing problem. I was discussing it with engineers and we would have to look at ways in which how they can separate the drainage areas,” Shaw said.
“The drainage areas in Leguan are interconnected, meaning the residential, as well as the cultivation, are being serviced by the same koker trench and it [irrigation] can be problematic if it is not done in a monitored way. I think the NDC has to be more proactive and my views are they have allowed the farmers the leisure and pleasure to do what they want and they have flooded out the residential area,” he added.
Residents have since received cleaning supplies from the CDC and have commenced the cleaning process but they are calling for better systems to be put in place to prevent further reoccurrence.
The recently repaired koker doors at Success were ripped off from their hinges and others were raised too high.
