School repairs expected to be completed today – Regional Chairman

Kako violent storm

Rehabilitation of the Kako Primary School in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) is expected to be completed by the end of today, according to Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford. The school was badly damaged following a violent storm on

Saturday last.
“Right now the Regional Engineer team is in the area working to have the building standing habitable again… that repair work is expected to be completed by (Wednesday) and before the end of the week school is expected to be reopened for the children,” Bradford told Guyana Times in a telephone interview.
In addition, he noted that discussions are taking place between the Regional Administration, the Guyana Civil Defence Commission (CDC) and the relevant ministries to formulate a coordinated approach to the situation.
He added that they are in the process of mobilising support for residents but noted that it would be costly to have it delivered to the remote village.
“We are mobilising all the support we can and when we do, we have to charter a plane to have it fly up there but that is costly… I would want to say we have everything under control though,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bradford told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the region is working with the Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Ministry and the CDC to

develop storm resistant infrastructure in the Upper Mazaruni region.
In less than one month, at least three villages in Region Seven were devastated by violent storms, leaving residents to pick up the pieces and restart life.
The most recent incident occurred late on Saturday afternoon, when a violent storm wreaked havoc in Kako Village. Although there was no loss of life, residents now have the herculean task of reconstructing their damaged properties.
According to Bradford, at the time, no one was seriously injured but noted that a team from the Regional Democratic Council’s Emergency Preparedness Committee had been dispatched to the village and had reported that some six houses were destroyed, six other buildings suffered major damage and the school in the area was also damaged.
The reopening of school on Monday was halted due to the facility being damaged. According to the Regional Chairman, residents indicated that for the past five days they have been experiencing heavy rains, coupled with lightning and thunder, which would usually begin in the afternoon around 15:00h. Bradford said the CDC was informed and is on standby to provide assistance if needed. He added that Kamarang, also in Region Seven, was affected but because of its remote location, the details as it pertains to damages there are yet to be reported. The Regional Chairman said interior locations would experience frequent storms during the hurricane season and noted the residents were already looking at the possibility of constructing storm-resistant homes. He asserted that a storm-resistant home would be built to house the family of Marsha Jordan, who was killed when a house collapsed on her last month during a violent storm. Jordan was seven months pregnant at the time of her untimely death. She was the mother of two girls, ages three and 11. Jordan and her two daughters were sheltering under a house when it collapsed on them, immediately killing her.