RESIDENTS of several communities on the West Bank of Demerara (WBD), including Lust-en-Rust, Onderneeming, Westminster and Parfaite Harmonie, have begun to benefit from extensive drainage and irrigation works.
This project is being funded by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) to the tune of $13.5M and is being executed by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).

According to a media release from the Ministry of Communities, these relief works stemmed from a commitment made by the Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for housing, Ms Valerie Adams-Patterson, during a visit last year to these areas. The release highlighted that the minister had visited these areas and engaged residents to hear their concerns. Here, the residents posited that the flooding they experienced was a result of water being pumped in the direction of the communities, from a nearby rice field.

Despite the residents’ claims, CH&PA’s engineering team discovered that the inundation was a result of poor drainage in these areas.
According to the press release, 98% of these drainage relief works have been completed on the main drainage canal and roadside drains in communities which were previously affected by flooding caused by rains.

The remainder of the works consists primarily of the removal of debris from some of the drains and is expected to be fully completed within another week.
It was highlighted too that several persons from the Lust-en-Rust Housing Scheme, who had begun construction work late last year were forced to stop because of the flooding, while other residents were forced to delay their construction works.

A recent visit to the Lust-en-Rust area revealed that construction has recommenced and that there has even been a noticeable spike in construction,which was attributed to the relief from water which had previously accumulated on the lands.
Residents welcomed the timeliness of the works executed in the communities which was facilitated by the CH&PA and related that they were not affected by the recent heavy downpours.

Several housing and agricultural communities had suffered immense losses and setbacks in 2016 as a result of the above-average rainfall that was experienced. These multi-million dollar emergency works had begun last November and were undertaken in two phases.