-Patterson assures of relief in time for Christmas

GOVERNMENT has adopted a coordinated approach to tackle massive flooding in Georgetown and other parts of the country and the Public Infrastructure Ministry is currently putting measures in place to bring much-needed relief to the citizens in time for Christmas Day on Sunday. In the city, residents of Albouystown, East Ruimveldt, West Ruimveldt, North- East La Penitence and Bel Air Park were among those hard hit by the floods, which were not only a result of the torrential rains, but an unusually high tide. There have been reports of flooding in Regions Two, Five and Six as well.
Meanwhile, addressing the nation on the situation via a live broadcast on the National Communications Network (NCN), Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, explained that the 12 hours of heavy downpour, which started at around 23:00hrs on Thursday, resulted in an accumulation of 3-4 inches of rainfall being recorded.
According to the Public Infrastructure Minister, the torrential rains came as a surprise. “It was unexpected,” he told the moderator of the programme Director of Public Information, Imran Khan, even as he pointed out that the Hydromet Office had given no indication that there would have been 75-100mm of rainfall on Friday.
In fact, initially, the Hydromet Office had told Guyanese to expect “partly cloudy to cloudy skies with scattered showers throughout Guyana.” The heavy and constant showers were coupled with a nip tide or a high tide. It was explained that normally sluices are opened for a period of six hours to allow the water to recede, however, with the high tide in effect, the time is cut down to about three hours.
On Friday, the sluices were opened from 04:00hrs to 09:00hrs before being reopened about 15:00hrs up until 18:00hrs. The sluices were expected to be opened from 04:00hrs today for another three hours.
As a result of the combined situation, the floodwaters receded slower than the norm, Minister Patterson noted, while explaining that the drainage system is not designed to accommodate this much water.
Bad news
But the situation was further compounded in the city by what he called “bad news.”
The Public Infrastructure Minister explained that on December 12 his ministry had convened a meeting with all the key stakeholders including the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, the Ministries of Communities and Agriculture, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) with the aim of putting measures in place ahead of the rainy season.
He said during that meeting, the Council had indicated that as a result of a shortage of funds, it was unable to fix the pump at Riverview which was dysfunctional at the time. As a matter of emergency, Minister Patterson said funds were provided to the City Council to have the pump fixed. It was noted that at the time of the meeting, the four other pumps were working.

Unfortunately, it was only on Friday that the Public Infrastructure Minister was informed that the pump at Riverview had not been repaired and another pump situated at Lamaha Street had stopped working approximately two to three days ago. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t done, because the issue was far bigger than that which was initially reported, so that wasn’t done, and the other one at Lamaha Street broke down two or three days ago,” Minister Patterson noted.
Nevertheless, the Public Infrastructure Ministry is putting measures in place to remedy the situation. Up to Friday night, it was working to have the pump at Lamaha Street up and running. It is expected that the pump at Riverview will be operable by today.
Additionally, the ministry on Friday was in the process of installing two pumps at Muneshwer’s and Sussex Street, while two smaller pumps will be deployed in Georgetown, including in the Queenstown area.
“It is important to get these pumps up and running because for the next 48 hours or so, more rainfall is expected by the Met Office. So we have to try during the time when the sluices are closed to discharge as much of the water as possible,” Minister Patterson explained.
The minister is optimistic that by today, seven pumps will be in operation, in addition to the two smaller pumps. Additionally, excavators have been deployed to the Cummings Canal, the Cowan Street Canal, and the Downer Street Canal. The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) is also in Albouystown, East Ruimveldt, and West Ruimveldt, where emergency relief works are ongoing. The Kitty pump station is also working normally despite the recent collapse.
Anticipating that there will be fewer rainfalls in the days to come, Minister Patterson believes that Guyanese even in flood-prone areas would be able to recover in time for Christmas.
The ministry is urging residents to remain patient and to also make necessary preparations, since rainfall is expected to continue tomorrow, though not as heavily. Residents are also advised that sandbags are available at the Kitty pump station.
Damage to property
Meanwhile, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, in a statement said the Government is putting systems in place to minimise loss or damage to property. “The Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, the Ministry of Communities and the Mayor and City Council have put measures in place to ensure that as soon as the tide changes, the water will be drained off of the land within a reasonable timeframe,” Minister Harmon said.
He added that the CDC has been activated in other parts of the country and is monitoring the situation. Colonel (ret’d) Chabilall Ramsarup, Director-General of the CDC had noted that his officers are currently on the ground gathering information from all the affected regions.
He also said that some communities in West Berbice are experiencing flooding and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority has dispatched two excavators to bring relief to those areas.