Communities along the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), remain under floodwaters and residents are complaining about the lack of maintenance along with the absence of proper systems to deal with heavy rainfall experienced during the rainy season.
A flooded area on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two
Regional Chairman, Devanand Ramdatt told Guyana Times that he is concerned as there is currently a setback in the installation of a new pump at Devonshire Castle and that the project, which was started a while back, is expected to be completed until January 2020.
“So my concern is that there is a delay in the installation of a pump at Devonshire Castle, so a new pump is to be installed at Devonshire Castle. That is a project that started sometime back. The estimated time for completion of the installation of that pump should be January. It’s a new pump, a big pump that is to be installed,” Ramdatt said.
He stated that he made several recommendations to the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) some four months ago to have an alternative pump installed in preparation for the rainy season. However, those recommendations were not followed.
“Unfortunately, I’ve been requesting to NDIA, for more than four months now, that they install an alternative pump to cater for the upcoming rainy season – December-January. Unfortunately, that recommendation was not adopted and this was raised at the level of the NDIA Board…so that in itself, presently I think they’re doing some testing of a pump and they’re trying to fix the pump that I think should’ve been in place more than two weeks ago,” the Regional Chairman explained.
Ramdatt also went on to say that despite the heavy rainfall, he believes that the water levels would not have been a major issue had there been a timely supply of fuel to enable the pumps to be put into operation. He said that this is a system which was not adopted by the relevant bodies.
“In the absence of that system being adopted by the regional administration, the administrative arm of the region which is by the REO, because at the level of the RDC we’ve always been recommending that that be the approach, that we have timely supply of fuel for the pump, so that in the event of any rainfall while the tide is up, that the pump can [be] put into operation,” he stated.
He disclosed that when the heavy rainfall was experienced, many of the pumps were not operational as a result of inadequate fuel supply. This, he explained, created major complications, which contributed to the situation becoming exacerbated.
Residents of Anna Regina expressed frustration over the slow drainage system, which they said is as a result of the pump and koker being unable to work simultaneously to drain the water off in an effective and timely manner. It was reported that the pump, when in operation, throws the water into the koker outlet which causes it to choke. Thus, even in cases of emergency, the systems can only function one at a time.
Residents are demanding an investigation into the lack of maintenance and absence of a proper plan to ensure a drainage system is in place to deal with emergencies: “If we cannot take care of rain, can we take care of the mighty ocean if it comes to us?” one concerned resident questioned.
The Regional Chairman added that there is adequate budgetary allocation in the system which can rectify this issue. He stated that recommendations have always been made at the level of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), however, the support from the Clerk of the Council to implement such decisions is lacking.
It has been reported that the high levels of floodwaters are affecting both residential and cultivation areas in the region. Some of the communities affected include Queenstown, Good Hope, Adventure, Anna Regina, Richmond, Lima, Hampton Court, Sparta, Devonshire Castle and Charity.
Efforts to contact the Regional Executive Officer proved futile. Meanwhile, the Civil Defence Commission posted on its Facebook page that the Rapid Damage Assessment Teams have been deployed to support regions Two and Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara). Cleanup hampers were also distributed.
