WORKS on the koker at Providence, East Bank Demerara are proceeding apace and construction of a new door is near completion. 

The main door on the koker collapsed last Wednesday, causing the entire West Providence and Peter’s Hall to be flooded to a height of three feet.
Speaking Wednesday with the Chronicle on the worksite at Providence, Head of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Mr. Lionel Wordsworth, said that the construction of the new koker door is progressing satisfactorily

.
He said that the new fabricated door is almost complete and that the damaged section of the koker will be replaced with steel.
“The timeline we are working with is to get everything completed by Sunday; the workers are working very hard and we also have six persons employed on the worksite for a 24-hour shift; no items could be damaged or missing,” Wordsworth said.
Also on Thursday last, the NDIA used temporary logs along with tarpaulin and a mobile pump to stop the constant flow of water when the high tides are in; these are still present pending completion of the door.
On the day of the flood, hundreds of residents residing in West Peter’s Hall and West Providence lost millions of dollars in damaged property after the main koker that separates the two villages collapsed, causing the entire western part of the villages to be flooded; water had reached 3.5 feet in most homes.
Among the damaged items were fridges, television sets, couches, poultry, glass wares, carpets, etc. Many students and workers had to stay at home to help clean up after the flood; and most elderly persons in the villages were seen in tears.
One resident Ms. Bibi Haniff, who was fustrated, said that she was at work when the koker collapsed; she said that when she came home all her belongings were damaged and she could not have done anything since she was left in a state of shock.

“My fridge, my bed, my clothes, my wares, everything is damaged. I live in a flat house, who will help me now? I’m a single parent and it’s going to be hard for me,” Haniff said.

An elderly resident, who lives very close to the koker, recalled her experience at the time of the breach. She said, “All of a sudden I heard something making noise; when I do realise I started to see water started to rush in my house with its power, right away I remember the movie Titanic and I was wondering if Jack would have been here to save me, because everything started to fall to the ground and broke, I could not have helped myself.”
(By Asif Hakim)