Heavy rains swamp Linden communities

May 29, 2024 News

A flooded street and yard in the mining town of Linden

Kaieteur News – Several communities in the mining town of Linden are heavily flooded following intense rainfall on Monday night and throughout Tuesday.

Communities on both the Mackenzie and Wismar shores severely affected by the flood include Kara Kara and Rainbow City, Victory Valley, Speightland and Noitgedacht.

Sections of central Mackenzie also experienced flooding, particularly in the business section causing a significant slowdown in business on Tuesday. Residents, who sought to transact business at the commercial banks, were seen standing in flood waters while some homes were inundated with up to two feet of water.

Residents suffered many losses as their furniture and home appliances were damaged due to the floods. The angry residents expressed their disappointment in the prolonged neglect of the town’s drainage and irrigation systems and the lack of preparation by the Regional and Central government for the May/June rains.

Two persons wade through a flooded street in Linden

Althia Chester, a resident of Rainbow City, said most of her appliances that are in the bottom flat of her home were damaged.

“Everything damage, freezer, carpet, washing machine, music system, everything damage,” said Chester who was at the time speaking to Linden’s Mayor Sharma Solomon, who was in the fields with other regional and municipal councillors assessing the damages.

Solomon threw the blame on Central Government. He said the government has been neglecting the drainage and irrigation system and there has been no desilting of the creek that would have allowed for the water to drain quickly.

A section of an inundated house in Linden

“Here is the yard that you have and the creek is just about 10 feet away which should have been able to drain your yard, had your creek been cleared…” Solomon said noting that some $77million was spent over the last week but the central government “failed to do consultative work so that we could have said to them Hymara Creek is a creek that should have been cleared, now look [at] the condition of the place.”

Meanwhile, Regional Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira in a statement, called on the government to take swift action to provide immediate relief, assistance, and compensation to the affected households.

“It is imperative that collaborative efforts be made with the Mayor and Town Council, alongside the Regional Democratic Council, to establish a risk assessment committee. The gravity of the current situation demands a coordinated and proactive approach to disaster management and public health protection. Immediate intervention is necessary to alleviate the suffering of the affected communities and to prevent future occurrences of such devastating impacts.”

Some $6.9 billion was allocated in the 2024 budget for enhancing the resilience of sea defence structures.

A flooded kitchen

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Works said that technical teams have been dispatched to assess the situation along with regional officials to quickly determine the appropriate amelioratory and remedial interventions. Officials of the Public Works Ministry will be joined by the teams from the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), the Municipal and Regional Administration as well as a technical team from BOSAI Minerals Company.

BOSAI has since commenced a rapid assessment exercise across all affected areas in Linden.

“The central authorities have since engaged two contractors to clear blocked drains and take other action to allow for quick run-off of flood waters in areas in Wismar and Mackenzie. Additionally, the Civil Defence Commission has begun preparations for establishing two shelters within the township of Linden before nightfall today,” the statement said.

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Civil Defence Commission, Government, Mayor and Town Council, Regional Democratic Council, Regional Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira

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