Excessive rains will compromise city’s drainage system

Feb 23, 2011 News

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– City Mayor

The drainage system of Georgetown is designed to take off 1.5 to two inches of rainfall over a 24-hour period. However, the system was noticeably compromised over a 24-hour period of incessant rainfall which started on Sunday morning and continued into Monday afternoon, resulting in the accumulation of approximately five inches of rainfall, according to City Engineer, Gregory Erskine.
“The system, even if working at its optimum, was designed to take off just about one and a half inches of water; we had five inches. So there is no way, even if the system was perfect, that we could have avoided an accumulation of water, not as much as we saw. But you will always have that because the city is below sea level, so that is logic,” City Mayor Hamilton Green asserted yesterday.
But despite the evident problematic development, the City Engineer disclosed that measures were put in place by the municipality which saw the accumulated water being drained off at a satisfactory pace.

“Georgetown is draining effectively with our 10 drainage sluices and hydro pumps as well as the major ones at Liliendaal and Kitty,” Erskine added. And indeed the city was noticeably drier yesterday, although it was anticipated that the rate of rainfall would have continued.
The two officials were speaking at a press briefing held in the Mayor’s office yesterday where they sought to simplify how the city’s drainage system operates. They explained that the outfall channels operate by gravity when there is low tide, a process which is aided by the release of the sluice gates which allow accumulated water to flow into the Demerara River and thence into the Atlantic Ocean.
But according to Mayor Green, this process itself presents a problem because over the years the outfall channels, which are the responsibility of Central Government and the Sea Defence Board, have not been adequately maintained. He further explained that due to problems with the Rainforest in Brazil, over time the sling-mud from the Amazon, combined with that from the western part of the Atlantic, transports itself and not only blocks the Demerara Bar, but also blocks several channels along the Demerara River, particularly to the eastern side, where the city is located.
“Some years ago we had a dredge which on a 24-hour basis maintained that facility. For some reason, for which I suppose the Agriculture Ministry can explain, this has not been an ongoing process, even though some works were done last year.”
Moreover, works were done to improve the major pumps (Liliendaal and Kitty) and according to Green, inspections on these pumps Monday night revealed that they were working optimally.
“All of them were working even though the GD (Georgetown Datum) was 50.4 which was relatively high, because the ideal GD would be around 46 or 47.”
But although the drainage system has been operating at a satisfactory rate, it is however not currently at its best since at the moment two of its five strategically placed hydro pumps are not operational. The non-operational pumps are intended to help drain the areas in the vicinity of J. P. Santos and River View.  Nonetheless, the City Engineer assured yesterday that “we are hoping to get them up and running by Thursday.”
In spite of this development, the city officials assured yesterday that the kokers in the vicinity of the non-operational pumps will be opened at low tide to allow the flow of any excess water off the land.
According to Mayor Green, “we have gangs out around the clock almost all day.”
However, he lamented the fact the City Council is faced with the unrelenting challenge of dealing with indiscriminate dumping.
“Some time ago I visited the area around J. P. Santos and there was about 10 feet of Styrofoam that accumulated over a 24-hour period.  All the vendors around there just throw things. We have charged some of them, but we don’t have enough constables to keep pace with the level of indiscipline that exists now.”
Some of the areas that were most affected during the recent incessant rainfall included: Lodge, South Ruimveldt, North Ruimveldt, Queenstown, Newtown, Cummingsburg and certain sections of Kitty, Erskine disclosed.
And in order to address any further flooding situation, Erskine revealed that “we are presently on the ground and we are clearing the culverts leading to the main drainage canals which in turn lead to the outfall channels.”
He noted, though, that the efforts are being hindered by boats that are moored at both the Ruimveldt and Kingston Outfall Channels, adding that “this is impeding the free flow of water to the Demerara River.”
The ongoing effort of the municipality, Erskine said, comes as the continuation of desilting works, which are currently 95 percent completed.  He disclosed that during the last quarter of last year, the municipality had done substantial amount of works to desilt the major drainage canals.
And already for this year, the City Engineer noted, the municipality has started clearing the Cummings Canal which drains the North and South Ruimveldt areas as well as Cummings Lodge and Bel Air Park. The Downer Canal, the Lamaha Street Canal and the Avenue of the Republic Avenue Canals were also included in the desilting project, Erskine said.
“Once all of our canals are completely desilted, we should see relief being brought to the residents of Georgetown…,” Erskine insisted.
The desilting process, according to him, has so far seen the municipality engaging 80 percent mechanical operation and 20 percent manual labour.

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