Latest update November 29th, 2024 1:00 AM
Although forced to battle floods annually, Kwakwani residents prefer to stay
By Vanessa Braithwaite
Waterfront resident Claudina Dookwah
Kaieteur News – Imagine having to evacuate your home yearly because it has been inundated with water. Imagine, battling with flood waters at least twice a year, seeing your furniture and home appliances floating on water or having no access to the bottom flat of your home for weeks. This is the life of residents of Lamp Island, Waterfront and Ginger Island, Kwakwani Upper-Berbice River. To many, this might seem to be a sad state of affairs and no one would desire to experience such instability, but the close to 300 residents of these communities have decided to stay put. Their reason? “We live here all we life, we done build life here, we done accustom to the river,” as vocalised by one Waterfront resident.
The current flooding situation at Lamp Island, Kwakwani
During the rainy seasons, these communities, that are in close proximity to the Berbice River, are prone to flooding. For those without boats, navigating is impossible, for those with one-storey homes, evacuating is necessary. Those with high homes are locked in, until the water recedes. With climate change and the rise in sea levels, the flooding gets worse as the years go by.
From 2018 to 2021, residents report that the water level has been higher than each previous year; 2021 was the worse recorded flood in over three decades. This year, the situation is no different. Water level is rising daily and scores of residents have already evacuated.
Before the intervention of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) on Friday last, some residents had to squat on road corners since they had nowhere else to go. They, however, prefer to navigate these difficult periods than to permanently move.Regional Councillor Elroy Adolph, told The Waterfalls that in the 90’s efforts were made by then President Desmond Hoyte, to encourage the residents to move to higher grounds. The petitions, however, fell on deaf ears. In 1995, he said former Head of the CDC, Joe Singh, again encouraged the residents to move and even provided land for them after they claimed they were unable to move because of the unavailability of land. “He explained to them that Government cannot continue to provide food and other assistance yearly and that they need to move to higher ground. He then established an area called ‘Chini Lane’, with about 50 house lots but only about five families moved,” Adolph related. Overtime the lands were occupied by others.
We like our peace and freedom
Resident Claudina Dookwah said she grew up at the Waterfront all her life and she enjoys the riverine area. “We use the river for domestic purpose, we wash our clothes and so, the Waterfront is very peaceful, you don’t get much trouble, I like it here,” she said.
“We are Amerindian people. We like our freedom, we can hunt, fish and live peacefully here, we don’t’ like too much of cluster, we like to be among ourselves,” resident Haruna said.
“We cannot move out from here, when we move, where will we go? It might sound easy to just move, but I lived here all my life, built a home and everything,” Lareen Austin of Lamp Island said.
They believe that with the dredging of the river, the flooding situation would not be as bad as it currently is. They related that when the water pressure is low, it is possible to walk across the river. The river has not been dredged in over two decades.
While living in a flood prone area is challenging, they have learnt to navigate and cope, to make the situation less stressful. “You have to first get a boat, we would stock up on our food and you have to build high because that is what I did,” Dookwah said.
In addition, the residents prefer to stay in their homes during the flooding situation rather than evacuate since their homes are often vandalised or their items are stolen.
This year, the Kwakwani Primary School is being used as a shelter for residents who have been forced to evacuated.
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