By Vanessa Braithwaite

RESIDENTS of Canvas City located on the Wismar shore in Linden are counting their losses in the hundreds of thousands as a result of erosion which is destroying their properties. The residents are claiming that they are “fed up” with the situation that has been plaguing them since 2011 and has been incurring expenses on their pockets as no one in authority seems to care enough to find a long-term solution to the problem.

Currently, the clogged koker that was constructed to drain water from higher communities into the creek causes the water to back up, thus resulting in it gushing into the yards of residents.
In addition to their homes being inundated during heavy rains, the widespread erosion continues to cause damage to residents’ fences, homes, foundations, kitchen gardens and businesses.
According to one distraught resident, Nichola Higgins, who was forced to rebuild an entire fence that was washed away, the situation is unbearable.
She has engaged several Government officials on the issue, but nothing significant has changed.
“Every time the rain fall, this thing is a real real hazard to us. The koker is flooded because it needs cleaning. I’m a single parent and I does have to pay people to clean the koker and even [if] it is clean, we does still get flood out,” she lamented.
Higgins said the two pipes in the koker to drain the water cannot withstand the quantity and pressure of water coming from other communities.
With three houses in her yard, she revealed that the losses are tremendous as the householders are forced every time it rains to repair some part of their property.
When the Guyana Chronicle visited her home on Wednesday, the entire front of the yard was eroded, the new fence that was reconstructed was breaking down and sections of the foundation of the home were breaking away.
A church that is located at the bottom flat of the house showed evidence of flooding, which Higgins revealed occurred a few weeks back.
She fears the situation will escalate for the worst as the rainy season is imminent.
Jennifer King, who lives at the back of the yard,has experienced the worst damage since her house is located at the bottom of the sloped land.

“When we go to the region about the damage, they said, since Mingo [former Regional Chairman Mortimer Mingo] was in office, that the Government does not build back private property. There is no satisfaction when you call them. All they do is come and look and nothing else.”
Higgins believes that if an open drain is constructed, it may, if not completely alleviate the problem, bring an ease to them.
Similar sentiments were echoed by another resident, Vanetta Green, who said that the situation is affecting her a lot and believes that if a drain is constructed, it would solve the problem.
“Is God keeping we because water just washing the land and you have to keep buying thing to keep your land. I had to take a loan to buy sand and concrete to build back the land; I can’t even live at my downstairs because every time the rain fall the place does flood out,” she said.
The residents are also forced to clean the garbage that is lodged in their yards that comes in with the water, which they deem an environmental hazard.
They also fear that the road will next be destroyed as the foundation is already being eroded by the water pressure. On Tuesday, the residents were visited by Linden Mayor Carwyn Holland and Regional Executive Officer Gavin Clarke. Systems were put in place to have the koker cleaned out by another resident who would be paid by the Regional Democratic Council, but the residents are of the opinion that the only long-term solution to the issue is to have additional drains constructed.