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Flood-hit Essequibo cries out for relief
In an effort to effectively address the issue of flooding that continues to affect residents on the Essequibo Coast (Pomeroon/Supenaam) and of more recent, flooding at Queenstown, Essequibo Coast, the Region would have to be fully
A flooded Queenstown yard in Essequibo.
equipped with high capacity pumps and effective functioning sluices to address the dire problem.
Jafaun Permansingh, an engineer attached to the Region Two Administration, who has been visiting silted up sluices, in the Region at Capoey, over the weekend, explained that the issue of flooding exists mainly because the sluices are all blocked up due to heavy siltation/accretion which is noticeable especially in the Atlantic Ocean.
Parmansingh admitted that a number of sluices in the Region are not in operation and as such mentioned that the Region needs high capacity pumps to assist in the alleviation of the sling mud.”
The engineer said that a pump would be deployed at Capoey later this week to bring some relief to residents in the Queenstown area who have been flooded out for a number of days.
“The pump at Taymanor, Devonshire-Castle, La Union, Lima and Anna Regina are not working, however, the one at Three Friends is working.”
Cromwell Mentis, a resident of Queenstown Village, lamented that the yards of a number of residents from his village and kitchen gardens have been under water for the past two weeks. Mentis said that Queenstown Village which has a population of 6,000 has been flooded out for the third time this year. The situation can cause serious problems if it continues, since many people are still using pit latrines, he added.
He said that the sluice at Capoey, a neighbouring community, is not working. As such, due to the persistent rainfall compounded by heavy siltation and trenches that are not dug often, flooding has become prevalent.
Mentis opined that if a dredge is installed in the Region on a long term basis the problem of flooding would not be a serious issue. He added that if one was installed in his Village the flood-hit residents would have got speedy relief. He said that only Saturday a main trench was cleaned in his Village.
Another resident, Rhoda Ramadhan, who has been living in Queenstown for the past 35 years, said that water has been in her kitchen for the past two weeks. Ramadhan, whose husband has filaria, said that the water is making her family extremely uncomfortable.
Meanwhile due to heavy rainfall and loose soil, the pump at Lima broke. The broken pump is currently being looked into by a contractor who is in the process of building a pump station nearby.
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