Sussex Street koker back in operation - Engineers

Sussex Street koker back in operation – Engineers

Jul 19, 2015 News

The Mayor and City Council’s (M&CC) Sussex Street koker is finally back to normalcy after the hardworking G.S Khan Construction engineers worked throughout yesterday to restore the koker.

Hogg Street, Albouystown yesterday evening.

This was ensured by collaboration between the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and the Ministry of Agriculture to drain the Albouystown area which was severely affected by the record-breaking rainfall on Wednesday and Thursday last.
The rainfall had caused increased water level in rivers and canals, which had significantly affected Regions Three and Four with flooding in several communities, in yards and homes in some instances.
As a result, some persons had to be evacuated to various shelters to seek assistance with the situation, such as the Albouystown Nursery School and the Selman Fraser Nursery School.
Some communities in Georgetown were still flooded but according to the Minister, Albouystown was going to take longer to drain since the pumps to drain that community were not functioning efficiently.
Up to late yesterday afternoon water in the Albouystown area was receding at a fast rate since the engineers were able to fix the koker in a timely manner.
According to the Mayor of Georgetown, Hamilton Green, they cannot afford a regime of lawlessness that is inconsistent with our efforts to restore Georgetown.
“The public needs to cooperate. We have cases where people have built concrete structures over canals which compromised the flow of drainage. And we are now starting the restoration of cleaning the canals, illegal dumping and looking for blockages,” the Major said.
He added, “I believe that in a few months or years, we create conditions which are ideal, even when we get this unusual rainfall, the water should move within a few hours. And that is our hope and dream.”
However residents are still being housed in shelters until the situation returns to normalcy. This was confirmed when the Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence, visited the areas on Friday last.
The Ministry is collaborating with the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) on this response as mandated by President David Granger and the Cabinet.
Similar arrangements have been put in place in most of the hard-hit communities in Regions Three and Five. The Ministry has engaged the churches, the mosques and the temples seeking their assistance should the need arise.
The religious leaders have committed to the Government that they will monitor the situation in their respective regions with the aim of providing assistance since they have a channel through the Ministry and the CDC whereby they will be given the necessary materials that would be required to assist the affected persons.
Minister Lawrence is urging persons in flood-affected communities who have senior citizens who need to be relocated to make contact with her Ministry. “The Ministry of Social Protection will come, evaluate the situation and remove those persons to Onverwagt where they can house about 160 persons” she said.