PRIOR to the flood of water that flowed into sections of the city when a koker door collapsed in Kingston on Tuesday afternoon,  the Ministry of Public Works had been executing works along several sea defences across the country.
Coordinator of the Works Services Group of the Ministry of Public Works, Geoffrey Vaughn said that, in addition, there were notices in the press alerting residents of the expected high tides and low pressure.

During an interview with the Chronicle yesterday,  Vaughn  explained that at the time the koker at Kingston collapsed, workers of the Sea Defence Unit of the ministry were monitoring the situation and carrying out works on the West Coast of Demerara following breaches there on Monday and to some extent on Tuesday.
Those occurrences were due to the high tides, Vaughn explained, and with the high tides and low pressure the situation is usually  compounded  as in  the case on Tuesday when several persons were  affected.
The ministry official stated that during that period there were no serious reports of overtopping or breaches of sea defences in Berbice or Essequibo and  the  islands. He did note, however, that the worse situations were reported in Regions Three and Four as well as sections of Georgetown
Vaughn stated that teams had been out  to Region Three basically doing work prior to the breaches as they were preparing for the spring tides. Those works saw them getting things done to alleviate most of the pressing issues that might have occurred in the area during Monday and Tuesday, Vaughn noted.
He added that as the works continue to be carried out at an interim level, there are systems being put in place to facilitate the long-term permanent works which have to be done in  areas along the sea defences in Region Three and other parts of the country.
Since Monday, workers have been walking along the sea walls in various areas in order to identify possible threats and locations which may need patching or extensive works to avert breaches of the sea defences.
Over the years, several villages along West Coast Demerara have been prone to suffer losses as a result of high tides breaching the sea defences and flooding  dwelling places.   In the meantime, the Ministry of Public Works has been monitoring the situation across the country in instances such as these.
Meanwhile, Town Clerk Carol Sooba yesterday revisited the Kingston location and said that she has ordered an investigation into what caused the collapse of the koker door.