Residents of Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) have demanded that the contractor currently engaged in demolishing a sluice at 51 Stanleytown to build a new one, be put a hold.
The residents voiced their concerns during a heated meeting on Sunday afternoon, which was facilitated by Mayor Wainwright McIntosh and included Regional Vice Chairman Zamal Hussain.
The Vice Chairman on Sunday claimed that the project was undertaken following complaints to President Dr Irfaan Ali by residents over the frequent flooding of sections of the town when there is continuous rainfall.
At Sunday’s meeting, residents called on the Vice Chairman to show them the complaints.
One resident pointed out that there are concrete drains leading up to the sluice, and they are all silted.
“Even if they build a new sluice, we will have the same problem. Before we break this sluice, let us get a hymac and clean the outfall,” a resident said at the meeting.
The residents are contending that the sluice is in perfect working order and if demolished, the new sluice will not be as sturdy and durable as the almost century old Dutch structure.
The at 51 Stanleytown, NA
They have asked for the outfall to be riveted noting that decades ago it was like that.
The Vice Chairman agreed to have the committee meet before a decision is taken on the way forward.
Meanwhile, at 32 Stanleytown where another sluice is located, the Vice Chairman pointed out that, the project will go ahead as planned.
“You know that for several years we have been having flooding in New Amsterdam, and when the President was in New Amsterdam a year back, residents raised their concerns about the flooding in New Amsterdam. As such the Minister of Agriculture was summoned and then he summoned his engineer… They did an assessment of the entire New Amsterdam to see what can be done to eliminate some of the flooding,” Hussain pointed out.
Subsequently, two pumps were installed within the township; one in the Tucburg area and that other at 32 Stanleytown.
Canals were also desilted by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).
The Vice Chairman addressing residents said, the contract for the demolishing and rebuilding of the 32 Stanleytown sluice has already been awarded and work is expected to commence shortly.
Sections of the sluice at 32 Stanleytown have given way and the door is only two feet in width.
“These structures were built in 1938, and concrete has a lifespan of about 70 years. As such these structures actually out lived their usefulness. So we have to upgrade all of the structures in New Amsterdam. Shortly we will upgrade the sluice in Tucburg. This will help the residents of New Amsterdam. Because for too long we have been getting floods in the New Amsterdam area,” Hussain pointed out.
“At the end of the day, the Government will be blamed if we are not putting in these infrastructures… We will better the lives of all residents irrespective of if it is New Amsterdam, Port Mourant or anywhere else in the country.” (G4)
