Latest update March 7th, 2025 7:05 AM
Wakenaam residents fume over clogged trench
– NDC seeks Lands and Survey intervention
By Shervin Belgrave
Kaieteur News – Residents of Good Success Housing Scheme, Wakenaam, Region 3 are outraged over a clogged trench that has been causing them to suffer severe flooding when it rains.
Not only would their homes be flooded, but the water would be “smelly” because of the waste fluids from septic tanks and household sinks.
Water ‘backing up’ into the residents’ yard as a result of the stagnant trench
The residents added that poisonous snakes also inhabit the clogged trench and would sometimes enter their homes.
One of the residents, Salim Manaus, explained that the trench is filled up with silt, which is causing “wastewater” to remain stagnant.
“The water is not flowing, and when the rain fall the thing does back up in your yard”, he told Kaieteur News.
Manaus pointed out that the trench has been in this condition for months, and his neighbours have been pleading with the Wakenaam/Leguan Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) for assistance to clean the silt out of the trench, but to date nothing has been done.
Driven by frustration, the residents approached Kaieteur News in September to publicize their concern.
In the letter they wrote, “As a boundary of the village (Good Success) there is a trench about 350ft in length that needs to be dug up so that residents can have drainage. This is supposed to be done by the NDC, but it has been neglected for ages”.
“It is overgrown with bushes, the water is stagnant and smelly and it is home to several reptiles, and the mosquito problem is unbearable”, the residents continued.
They had also pointed out in the letter that they have been appealing with the relevant authorities to address the issue, but they have not gotten any positive response.
Photo of a snake in one of the resident’s home (they believed that it might have crawled out of the trench and entered their home)
Speaking with this newspaper yesterday, the residents related that the condition of the trench remains the same and making matters worse, they noted that the rainy season has already begun, and it seems like they will have to spend the holidays flooded with water that is hazardous to their health.
Kaieteur News has since contacted the NDC and it has been told that a letter was dispatched to the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission (GLSC) to intervene in matter.
The NDC chairman, Tareeq Ahmad, said that the overgrown bushes have been cleared, but the silt could not be removed because the excavator cannot access the area to do so.
He explained that the only way for a machine to access the area is via a dam that is privately owned.
Ahmad related that the dam is a part of a private estate, and its owner in the past had allowed them to use the dam.
The trench alongside the dam that is privately owned
However, the owner reportedly sold the dam to another man and that individual does not want the excavator to walk there.
Ahmad said the man showed the NDC a sale agreement proving that he had legally purchased the area.
On the other hand, residents are disputing this and have said that the dam is a part of the government’s reserve and cannot have a private owner.
Moreover, they noted that not allowing the NDC to clean the trench is affecting their health. They had even submitted to this newspaper a plan from the Good Success Housing Scheme to back up their contention.
Meanwhile, Ahmad pointed out that other reserve lands that can be used for access to the trench, but residents have fenced that off, too.
As a result, he said, the NDC has written the GLSC to conduct a survey of the area and remark the boundaries, and provide a solution regarding the dispute, on whether the dam belongs to the government, or if it has been legally leased to the private estate.
Until this is sorted out, residents will have to continue living with a stagnant, overflowing trench.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Democracy without freedom
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- A democracy without freedom is a like a human body without breath. It is a like nation... more
The OAS Needs a Leader, Not a Battleground
Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS, Ronald Saunders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The campaign... more
Weekend Cartoon
