Residents of Festival City seek urgent relief from continued flooding of streets

Dear Editor,
For the last 15 years I have resided in ER Burrowes Street, Festival City, Georgetown. Over the years, residence in this area commonly experienced flooded streets after even a very short period of rainfall.
However, the situation has now worsened to the extent that both ER Burrowes and Hummingbird Street, Festival City, remain under water-longed situations after the rains have stopped. This is more severe in the eastern sections of these streets, particularly since some segments of these streets have subsided over the years.
As I write, the water level in the eastern section of ER Burrowes and Hummingbird Street is notably high. In addition to being very unsightly, the stagnant water is mossy and foul smelling. Residents traversing the area on bicycles and motor cycles many times experience serious skidding to the extent that some end up falling in the stagnant water.
Included in this group is also the postal service mail delivery staff. Given the persistent flooded streets, taxi services are known to increase their charges once the name Festival City is mentioned. Certainly, this situation is far from wholesome for the community. It has serious potential environmental health and safety implications. Additionally, it can also be quite depressing.
While we heard of many promises and public statements made to comprehensively address the issue of flooding in the Festival City community, to date, the problem remains and is actually getting worse.
In this regard, I wish to refer to the letter writer who wrote in the January 23, 2017 issue of the Kaieteur News (letter to the Editor) pointing out to the degeneration of Festival City. Sadly, while our President talks about building wholesome communities, the degeneration of Festival City has continued. We, the residents, feel a sense of neglect by those who are in authority and in a position to address our concerns.
On May 29, 2017, for example, residents of the community dispatched a letter outlining their concerns to the Ministry of the Presidency, the Public Infrastructure Ministry, the Communities Ministry and the Georgetown City Council.
There was no response to this letter. The community has an elected representative for the area on the Georgetown City Council but given our feeling of persistent neglect, we are left to wonder what role this individual plays in community affairs.
We noted the notable improvement in drainage in central Georgetown and the consequential reduction in the impact of floods in the City.
However, in the case of Festival City, we still pray for relief from our flooding nightmare. This letter represents yet another plea to those in authority to address our concerns in a manner whereby we can experience notable relief from the situation of bad drainage and flooded streets we face as a community.

Yours truly,
Rawle Edinboro
Resident of Festival
City