–of low-lying areas in West Coast Berbice

A RECORD 6.88 inches of rainfall that assailed West Berbice communities in Region Five between Thursday midnight and Friday midday has left several low-lying West Coast Berbice villages inundated.However, officials of the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) have assured that all the drainage systems in the area are working at optimal levels, and unless rainfall resumes, the waters should recede within a reasonable time frame.

The area experienced twelve hours of continuous heavy rainfall, and according to an official of the MMA/ADA, the flooding was a direct result of the downpour. The official explained that, with the West Coast Berbice drainage system having capacity to drain only one and a half inches of rainfall every twenty-four hours, “it will be impossible to get rid of almost seven inches of rainfall within twenty-four hours.”

All drainage sluices operated by the MMA/ADA along the West Coast of Berbice were functioning on Friday, and the two drainage pumps at Trafalgar — recently fixed by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) — were being utilized when the high tide prevented the use of the sluices.

Residents have noted that, prior to the heavy rainfall between Thursday night and Friday mid-day, the area comprising the low-lying GLUTT villages in West Coast Berbice (Golden Grove, Lovely Lass, Union, Trafalgar and Tempie) had been relatively well drained. They are hoping that the usual effective management of the drainage system in the area would result in speedy recession of the water. (Clifford Stanley)