REGION 2 Chairman Parmanand Persaud visited several sluices and mobile pumps on Thursday last to ensure the region was being drained of rain water which had inundated the land over the past two days of consistently heavy rainfall across the region. Accompanied by a team of officers, Persaud visited the Lima, Hampton Court, Windsor Castle and Devonshire Castle sluices to get a first-hand look at their operation. He said the rainfall had flooded several villages across the coast, and that the administration had quickly dispatched an excavator to Aurora village, which had been most seriously affected by the flooding, to clear a blocked drainage trench so as to assist with draining of the residential area.

Persaud said the other two areas that are seriously affected are the township of Anna Regina (from Three Friends to Walton Hall) and Charity, including the housing areas, but other areas outside the town are also affected by overflowing drains.

The Chairman and his team also visited the Reliance, Richmond, Henrietta and Lima Housing Schemes, and Hampton Court and Devonshire Castle to look at drains that were overflowing because of the consistent heavy rainfall. The Chairman said that most of the inundated houselots were those that were not filled up with earth, or were situated in the low areas. He said that, except for Devonshire Castle, all the sluices were working well and discharging large volumes of water into the Atlantic Ocean during the falling tide. He also said that mobile pumps were working at Anna Regina and Charity whenever the tide is washing.

According to Chairman Persaud, when the sluices are shut down during the washing tide, water from the backlands flows into residential areas via canals and drainage trenches, and overflows into yards and low houses.
The Chairman said a high build-up of sling mud has blocked the Devonshire Castle sluice channel, and the administration has deployed the pontoon with the two excavators to clear the channel so rainfall water can be drained off quickly from residential and farming communities. Persaud also said that the mobile pump at Anna Regina is operating to drain the commercial centre of the town.

Chairman Persaud said there is no major flooding in Region 2, but a large accumulation of rainfall in drains and canals has overflowed into some yards and homes. He said the regional administration would continue to monitor the situation and see what could possibly be done to avoid any major flooding in the region.

He appealed to residents to avoid throwing garbage, especially plastic bags and bottles, into waterways, because it would block culverts and sluices and create serious drainage problems in the region.