–South Ruimveldt, environs still grappling with widespread flooding

By Tamica Garnett

THOUGH the constant flooding that has plagued the city for many years seems to have abated somewhat over the past few months, the same cannot be said for south Georgetown.A number of residents of Festival City and neighbouring communities earlier this week voiced their concerns over what they are beginning to believe is a situation that will never go away.

“I can’t remember when last I saw the street completely dry,” said one Hummingbird Street resident. “It would recede a little sometimes; but since rainy season set in, it doesn’t recede much before rain falls again.”

As she went on to explain, the situation causes many taxi drivers to ‘jack up’ the fare whenever they have cause to take residents to and from the area.

HEALTH CONCERNS
One resident was more concerned about the serious health hazard the situation poses.

“Well, Blue Mountain is flooded; there always flooded,” she said, somewhat resignedly. “The flood has been affecting us, because it breeds mosquitoes and the water is very dirty; it smells, so people are afraid to walk in it. And a lot of people passing through the street would fall down. There’s nobody digging the drains; we haven’t done anything since May to make the place look better and have some of the water recede; so there’s a lot of water.”

For another Blue Mountain Road resident, the situation is time-consuming. “It limits your mobility; completing simple tasks around the community has to be sidetracked.”

Over on Barrow Street, the situation is no better. One resident observed that at times the water would even appear to be rising when it hadn’t rained.

LOOKING INTO IT
But Debra Lewis, Public Relations Officer of the Mayor & City Council (M&CC), says the situation is currently being addressed. She explained that because the communities at reference are somewhat lower than other areas around Georgetown, they are more prone to flooding. She also attributed the situation to the state of the drainage system; but that, too, she assured the Guyana Chronicle, is being looked into by the city engineer, as all the pumps and sluices around Georgetown are functioning.

“We are looking at the situation in the South Ruimveldt area; we’re looking at our drainage situation,” Lewis said, adding:
“We have a fragile drainage system, and we still have persons throwing garbage in the waterways.
This also points to the need for a more rigid maintenance programme to be put in place. The engineer went out, and he was visiting the communities that are affected. All of our sluices are operational and all of our pumps are working.”