Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
Despite Govt. boast, rains wrecking havoc in East Coast Demerara villages
Despite the brash boast of the government of spending hundreds of millions of dollars in drainage and irrigation works, several villages along the East Coast of Demerara are suffering from flood damage as a result of just two nights of rainfall.
Given this condition residents fear that there could be another outbreak of the dreaded Leptospirosis and other water-borne diseases.
Heavy rains on Friday and Saturday nights left sections of the East Coast severely under water, fueling speculations that the government mismanaged the millions of dollars reportedly spent to alleviate flooding.
It was felt that during the prolonged dry season as a result of El Nino phenomenon, infrastructure works would have been able to prevent flooding when the rainy season appeared.
However, from the evidence so far, the money spent is not properly accounted for.
From Vryhied’s Lust to Ann’s Grove, floodwaters have inundated the land and residents fear that with the non-functioning or badly operated drainage systems, water borne diseases could wreck havoc in their communities.
In Ann’s Grove, several streets and yards are flooded and with some persons still using pit latrines, the situation is worrying, especially since the residents believe that it will take some time for the waters to recede.
They blame the badly managed Greenfield koker for their predicament.
Last week, this newspaper had observed that the authorities were only then clearing the outfall channel of the koker.
This is despite quite a long dry period when such works were supposed to be completed.
“Dey had one whole year fuh put things in place fuh diss rainy season. But is like everything this government do got corruption in it,” one Ann’s Grove resident lamented.
And revelers at a wedding reception in the village were forced to prematurely halt the activity after water from the nearby trench overflowed its banks and flooded the hall.
Further down the Coast at Annandale/Lusignan, although the drainage canals there have been dredged, residents lamented the wanton disposal of styrofoam boxes and plastic bottles which they are convinced, is the source of their flooding.
A Lusignan resident tries his utmost to clear obstacles that are contributing to the situation.
Water has also inundated the Lusignan Cemetery and swine from a nearby pig rearer were seen rummaging through the soft mud, a worrying situation for residents there.
Most villagers along the coast are worried that if the situation is not rectified soon, there could be a repeat of the dreaded leptospirosis crisis that plagued them during the 2005 floods.
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