–Min Harmon promises flood-weary Coomacka residents

DESPITE all that’s been done, residents of the former bauxite-mining community of Coomacka are still battling with flooding and erosion, but State Minister, Joseph Harmon has made them a solemn promise that it will soon be over.

“There is a project we are discussing that will make that something of the past,” he told Coomackans recently but didn’t go into details, except to say that Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund will be stepping in to collaboratively address the issue.

According to Regional Chairman Renis Morian, a complete overhaul of the community’s drainage system would cost somewhere in the vicinity of $550M.
The erosion issue affecting Coomacka, the experts say, is as a result of decades of unregulated bauxite mining, as was revealed when a multi-agency team visited the community on a fact-finding mission.

With Coomacka situated in a basin, and all of the mining activities occurring about 15 feet overhead, what this meant was that whenever it rained, aggregates from these areas that are now mined-out, would have been channeled into the Demerara River.

Now, the build-up over time is threatening the livelihood of Coomackans, since they depend heavily on the river as a main source of transportation, as well as for domestic and recreational purposes such as washing, fishing, swimming, bathing and sourcing water.
The community is located some 15 miles from Linden and is home to approximately 2,500 residents who are predominantly Amerindians.

According to Wainright Bethune, Senior Technical Service Coordinator at the bauxite mining company, Bosai, theirs is a situation that was created by previous companies which did not have an environmental department.

CHEMICAL OVERBURDEN
“So what happened is that the huge chemical overburden that were left, and they didn’t take reclamation into consideration so they have deep holes and some huge overburden piles remaining,” Bethune said.
“So, during the heavy rainfall when there is erosion, the sediments are transported with the water and goes to the river,” he added.

Minister Harmon recently announced that in spite of the inconvenience they may cause at times, these mined-out areas still have their uses.
He said at the time: “Linden will be the beneficiary of projects under the International Solar Alliance Agreement that was signed by His Excellency a few weeks ago in India.

“The solar footprints of Linden is one of your greatest assets, and this is something that we have to explore; and you have to understand there’s a benefit for that.
“So sometimes when we cry about the way our mines have operated; that these mined-out areas serve as demotivators to us, we now have to recognise that that in itself is a positive.”

Early in March, President David Granger had travelled to New Delhi, India where he delivered an address at the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Founding Conference and Solar Summit. The ISA is an international and inter-governmental organisation which aims at maximising the potential of solar energy.
Guyana, which is a founder member of the ISA which was formed in November 2015, also played an active role in ratifying its framework agreement.

HOPING FOR THE BEST
Community leader and Coomacka resident,Dexter Harding was excited to hear about all that was in store for the community, and expressed optimism that the projects spoken about will come to fruition.

He, however, expressed concern over the state of the access road, as well as the non-use of the David Granger School Bus that was gifted to the community for children to be transported to schools in Linden free of cost.

After residents and bus drivers held days of protests on the state of the road in 2017, major repairs were done, but because it was not asphalted or maintained, and due to the inclement weather, the road is almost in the same state as it was before.

As a result, the school bus continues to have mechanical problems because of the terrain, and the schoolchildren are still forced to find hefty transportation costs to attend school.
A few days ago, two of the regular minibuses that transport children to and from school were down because of the road, but at the intervention of ‘E’ Division’s Commander Anthony Vanderhyden, transportation was made available for the children free of cost.

Regional Executive Officer Orrin Gordon has promised to use the Moblissa school bus in Coomacka, since it is better suited to that particular terrain, and to use Coomacka’s vehicle temporarily in Moblissa, a community located on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.
“We have a deterioration of the road; it is not in good condition due to the rainy weather,” Harding said.

“It is the second term the bus is not on the route. It is not a suitable bus for the route; the terrain is too rough,” he told the media.