As residents of Kwakwani, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), continue to grapple with the floodwaters, which are slowly receding, they are calling on the Government to ensure that the drainage infrastructure within the community is strengthened, so when the next rainy season arrived, they could be better prepared to face the overtopping of the Berbice River.
“Inland development needs to be addressed. Within Kwakwani, we have a set of
Resident Kay Forde
blocking of drains and if we have those fixed, we would have better response. We will have better flow of water. Yes, the river overflows and we can do some dredging, but internally we are all blocked up. We have to encourage inland development,” resident Kay Forde said.
She told Guyana Times that her farm has been underwater for over one month with no relief in sight. The woman said that residents have made numerous representations to the local authorities, but nothing was being done to alleviate the issues faced by the residents of Kwakwani.
“We want proper roads and serious drains and we are inviting the Minister of Communities and the Minister of Infrastructure in this area to do some work. The flood does affect all of us, because we are not getting fresh food and all we have
This house is barely spared from being under water
to eat is sardines and rice,” Forde said.
“Nobody hears Kwakwani; we like the outside of the backdoor of Guyana. We have no support here. We don’t see no Government support here in Kwakwani, and we does contribute to the development of this country, because we have bauxite here, logging and diamond,” another resident said.
The flooding in Kwakwani started in April and intensified over the months owing to the heavy rainfall coupled with the overtopping of the Berbice River. Persons living on Lamp Island and the Waterfront are the most severely affected, but according to acting Civil Defence Commission (CDC) Director, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig, there was no need for emergency shelters.
The water rose to as high as eight feet in some areas and was receding slowly. Residents are utilising boats as the main mode of transportation, since the roads
Resident Anuradha Jaggernauth with her newborn baby
are inundated.
When this publication visited Kwakwani on Sunday, resident Patricia (only name given) said she had been living on Lamp Island for a number of years, explaining that they usually expect flooding, but the level of flooding far surpassed their expectations.
“The water is really affecting us badly, because we had to move from the downstairs and carry back up the kitchen upstairs because water is about knee height under our house. A lot of people is affected more, because water is in their house where they are actually living and it is really bad. It hasn’t come to the full height as yet, but it seems as though it stick and hopefully, it goes down after this,” she said.
Another resident, Anuradha Jaggernauth, said they have to incur additional expenses, because they were forced to travel with boats. In addition, the drinking water of a number of persons is contaminated forcing them to conserve on whatever water they have.
A team of Opposition parliamentarians on Sunday visited the flood-affected
The water inundating almost all of this shop
community, where food items and cleaning detergents were distributed to the grateful residents. The residents expressed their gratitude to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) for the timely relief supplies.
PPP/Civic parliamentarian Neil Kumar distributed the supplies on behalf of the Party and interacted with the residents. Kumar said that the Party was pleased to assist the residents and reiterated the call for the Government to provide immediate relief supplies to the affected residents.
Meanwhile, the CDC Head said the entity has finished mobilising relief supplies for the residents and indicated that the supplies for the more than 300 affected residents should arrive by Wednesday.
The affected areas are said to be low-lying with residents being given the option to move, but they have not taken up that offer. However, a team would have visited
This woman is using floodwater to do laundry
the community on Friday when representatives from the Agriculture and Public Health Ministries discovered that livestock and farmland were being affected. The medical team visited the Kwakwani Public Hospital to determine if anyone was suffering from any form of disease or hospitalised owing to the flooding, but found that no one was suffering from any disease or is hospitalised.
According to a regional official from the community, hundreds of households are affected by the floods.
